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Copyright: The Elephant in the Middle of the Glee Club

balkin.blogspot.com

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Re: Copyright: The Elephant in the Middle of the Glee Club

#2

Post by billturner »

I have a feeling that printing, filling out, and then mailing off a mechanical license for every song, and then waiting by the mailbox for the results won't make for compelling television.

I understand the message behind the weblog post, but I think it's asking a little too much for them to tackle copyright on Glee.

Re: Copyright: The Elephant in the Middle of the Glee Club

#3

Post by ErrantX »

billturner wrote: post #2

I have a feeling that printing, filling out, and then mailing off a mechanical license for every song, and then waiting by the mailbox for the results won't make for compelling television. I understand the message behind the weblog post, but I think it's asking a little too much for them to tackle copyright on Glee.

I'm sure it could be "dramatized" for TV. Say by burly men in dark glasses turning up to serve legal notices. There could even be paper cuts.

Re: Copyright: The Elephant in the Middle of the Glee Club

#4

Post by dpatru »

billturner wrote: post #2

I have a feeling that printing, filling out, and then mailing off a mechanical license for every song, and then waiting by the mailbox for the results won't make for compelling television. I understand the message behind the weblog post, but I think it's asking a little too much for them to tackle copyright on Glee.

Asking for copyright permission doesn't make for interesting real-life either. Nor does it fit with today's technology and expectations. This was the point of the article. The law needs to be changed.

Re: Copyright: The Elephant in the Middle of the Glee Club

#5

Post by fragmede »

billturner wrote: post #2

I have a feeling that printing, filling out, and then mailing off a mechanical license for every song, and then waiting by the mailbox for the results won't make for compelling television. I understand the message behind the weblog post, but I think it's asking a little too much for them to tackle copyright on Glee.

I don't think it is asking too much. They address problems like "teen pregnancy and alcohol abuse" which aren't 'soft' problems. While the subtleties of compulsory licensing don't necessarily need to be addressed in detail, I think acknowledging that the issue exists would be a good step where a recording is available on Youtube in seconds instead of an 'underground' tape being passed around.

Re: Copyright: The Elephant in the Middle of the Glee Club

#6

Post by dunham »

billturner wrote: post #2

I have a feeling that printing, filling out, and then mailing off a mechanical license for every song, and then waiting by the mailbox for the results won't make for compelling television. I understand the message behind the weblog post, but I think it's asking a little too much for them to tackle copyright on Glee.

Funding is a key plot point. As far I recall, this has only manifested as "we can't afford pretty costumes and special effects" (and a "we can't rent a bus" episode).

In reality, if they were tight on funds, the teacher would be telling the kids "we can't afford to do that song."

I'm sure the writers and producers are well aware of the issue - they have to deal with this stuff in producing the show. The cynic in me says they're avoiding the issue to keep the industry happy.

Re: Copyright: The Elephant in the Middle of the Glee Club

#7

Post by dkimball »

There's always been a folk culture, including folk songs -- with "folk" and "songs" as separate words, "songs part of the popular consciousness" as opposed to "songs sung in an Appalachian dialect with a banjo, a long beard, and highly un-Appalachian politics."

We have a folk culture at the present day, too; the problem is that all songs used by the folk are copyrighted. Read _Sound Targets_, on music in the Iraq War, for another illustration of this; if every occasion of piracy mentioned in that book produced a $150,000 fine, the RIAA could field its own armed forces with the proceeds. (I hope I didn't just give them an idea.)

I'm not sure where we go from here. This situation can't continue, but "the laborer is worthy of his hire," to use the medieval form of the expression. If only the music industry weren't a gang of thugs (for a list of RIAA members: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_RIAA_member_labels), we might already have a solution for this...

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