Word: twain
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Only one thing is impossible for God: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet .. . Whenever a copyright law is to be made or altered, then the idiots assemble. -Mark Twain...
Perhaps in fear of Twain's acerbic observation, none of the usual Senators, Congressmen and other worthies gathered last week when President Ford quietly signed into law a broad, new and long-overdue revision of U.S. copyright legislation. So old was the last law (1909) that if it could have been copyrighted, the copyright would have been due to expire ten years ago. Despite the advent of such undreamed-of complications as TV and photocopiers, the battles over changes dragged on through 20 years. "The new law has seen righting and its body shows some scars," says John Hersey...
Well might he think so. Authors whose works used to be protected for a maximum of 56 years after publication will now retain their rights for life plus 50 years-the most common term internationally and the one Twain fought for in his lifetime. Though the law does not go into full effect until Jan. 1, 1978, it does immediately extend current copyrights to 75 years. As a result, royalties will be paid to widows and heirs for an extra 19 years for such about-to-expire copyrights as those on Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, Eugene...
...Register of Copyrights, the new law "is a balanced compromise that comes down on the authors' and creators' side in almost every instance." To clear up lingering or future royalty inequities, a five-member presidential commission will be created. Does all this resolution of old confusions refute Twain's cynicism? Well, perhaps not. James Fitzpatrick, a full-time copyright lawyer who represents the Recording Industry Association of America, among others, was recently asked whether his workload would now decline since the lobbying battle is over. He did not hesitate. "It's clear," he said ominously, "that...
...while it failed to convince, it certainly contributed to the success of the play. No such element of surprise exists in I Have a Dream and Billy Dee Williams' performance has a snake oil slickness that robs it of the craggy integrity that Hal Holbrook brought to Mark Twain, or Henry Fonda to Clarence Darrow. The idea of having a character who is seemingly Coretta King (Judyann Elder), deliver lengthy asides on the ideals of King violates another internal law of drama: never explain - always reveal...