From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lee@piclab.com)
Date: Mon Jun 17 2002 - 12:05:03 MDT
> (Mike Lorrey <mlorrey@datamann.com>):
>
> Ah, but a novel is not a book, it is a story. Before books were
> invented, novels were memorized and passed on by oral means. There is no
> legal restriction against you memorizing "The Stand" and going around
> reciting it to people...
You are mistaken. Copyright law does indeed explicitly make that
illegal. "Public performance" of a work is one of the exclusive rights
covered by copyright. I am indeed fobidden by law from putting on a
production of "West Side Story", even from memory, and despite the fact
that most of its story is derivative of Romeo & Juliet. I am forbidded
by law from singing "Happy Birthday" in public without permission from
the estate of the Smith sisters.
One can argue about whether or not copyright is a good thing, but
arguments based on ignorance of the law aren't very convincing.
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