Saturday, February 09, 2013

Barn in Snow


Friday, February 08, 2013

Snowstorm!


Thursday, February 07, 2013

Plagiarism: not illegal, apparently

Years ago, Jonathan Coulton, an indie musician who has plenty of fans in our household, (took a moment out of his busy schedule to give Daughter a big hug and pose for a pic with her at Ohayocon once!) released a soft rock version of Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back". He got the proper permissions and paid the proper royalties. Last week, Fox's show Glee featured the same song on their episode Sadie Hawkins Day. Contacted, did paperwork, and made financial arrangements with Mix. But USED Coulton's unique mix. No acknowledgement in the credits, no payment to Coulton, and they didn't ask permission. Some muckety-muck on the Fox/Glee end contacted Coulton to tell him that they were on solid legal ground, and besides, Coulton should be thankful for the exposure this is giving him. Except, without publicly crediting him, how, precisely, can that be called "exposure"? Here is the post I wrote, and here's a link to Jonathan Coulton's web site. Kind of wiped out right now, but if I can manage it, I'll add a bit more explanation and links to some of the better articles I've seen on this matter.

Plagiarism vs. Copyright Infringement

Copyright should protect artists like Jonathan Coulton, not Glee & Fox

Jonathan Coulton Explains How Glee Ripped Off His Cover Song — And Why He’s Not Alone

Jonathan Coulton ‘Covers’ Glee’s Ripoff of ‘Baby Got Back,’ Puts It on iTunes, Proceeds Go to Charity

Big Puffy Snowflakes (and an Nor'easter approaching!)


Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Monday, February 04, 2013

Sunday, February 03, 2013

Branches