Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2008 17:30:12 -0400 From: "Hobey Ford" <hobeyone-AT-gmail.com> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Patent Infringement Sounds like she did a lot better than me. On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 3:57 PM, jon green <puppen-AT-mac.com> wrote: > I think the problem is that we expect our intellectual property laws > to be "fair". They never have been. As you point out throughout > much of the nineteenth century and early 20th century US patent laws > protected US interests- particularly when those interests were > violating European patent laws. Thomas Edison was the master of > this to his favor. > > The classic example of our hair brained intellectual property laws is > the song "Happy Birthday to You". The tune dates from the late 19th > century, the lyrics from 1912 or before, but because nobody else had > copyrighted the song, some smart cookie was allowed to copyright it > in 1935. It does not go into public domain until 2030, assuming > copyright protections are not extended. > > I think the Hazelle patent on the airplane control happened in the > same way. As there was no patent prior to the Hazelle application, > one was granted. T > > This has got even worse in recent years. I cannot understand why > museums can get copyright and trademark protection on antiquities and > art hundreds if not thousand of years old. At one point, owners of > the Empire State building tried to argue that they deserved a > licensing fee every time the NY skyline appeared in a movie, TV show, > magazine or other media. There actually were a few films that > digitally removed the Empire State building from the skyline to be safe. > > And, don't get me started on being able to patent genes and DNA. > > One of my favorite memories of college was a playwriting course. > There was a young man who was obviously very talented, but basically > turned in crap. The teacher called him on it. He said, "everything > I write in this course becomes the property of the university; so, I > am writing crap until I graduate." > > Jon > _______________________________________________ > List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit > Archives: http://www.driftline.org > _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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