Quote:Actually, it's two sisters, and the reason they copyrighted it is that they wrote it -- see here. People seem to think that it's been part of Western Culture since the Ancient Greeks first sang it, but no, it was written a little more than a hundred years ago. (The copyright's lasted this long because the sisters got ripped off by a Tin Pan Alley songwriter and didn't get the renewed rights back until 1935, and it's been grandfathered in under the various extensions ever since.)
Like the guy who copyrighted the "Happy Birthday" song (I'm not kidding. Anytime you hear that in a movie, he's getting royalties),
I have no problems with artists getting the reward they've earned. I have great problems with the recording industry, who rip off the people on either end of the production line. (I'm not just parroting the P2P people either here. I have family connections in the recording industy, both writers and performers.) Reps and members of the industry have repeatedly made it clear that their ultimate goal is the nickel-and-diming of every music listener everywhere -- charging for each and every play, as much as the traffic will bear.
Quote:DRM is the tool of choice right now to ensure that the poor, impoverished record companies do not go bankrupt because they are not getting paid by the thieving American public.
It is within the industry's rights to charge whatever it cares to, as often as it cares to, for the privilege of listening to the music it owns. If the someone doesn't like that, well, they don't have to pay -- or listen. -- Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
(No, I don't feel strongly about this. Why do you ask?)
-- Bob
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There's no wrong way to eat a Rhesus.