Doin' What Comes Natur'lly

Ever hear this post's title song from Annie Get Your Gun?

Here's the first verse:

Folks are dumb where I come from,
They ain't had any learning.
Still they're happy as can be
Doin' what comes naturally (doin' what comes naturally).

The song came to mind this morning reading Mike Arrington's brief observation on the need for changes in copyright law. Here's Arrington's thought:

My position is that it’s bad to criminalize natural behavior. And watching a clip of The Office, whether it’s legally on Hulu or illegally on YouTube is natural behavior. The only question is whether or not people are getting sued, or going to jail, for doing it.

Now, that kind of common sense approach hasn't always won the day in legal matters but it certainly would make plenty of sense to Annie Oakley.

The idea that I can be sued for using a 30-second snippet of a song as background for a video...a video from which I earn no revenue and credit the original source...still  confounds me. Who's harmed?

Yes, yes, I know, artists have to protect their copyrights or risk losing all remedies from truly nefarious usage. But, criminalizing natural behavior is as sure a way of creating disrespect for the law as you'll ever find. And, as we've seen, many people will, predictably, ignore that law (some at their peril.

The only question about copyright law changes is when they'll happen, not if. 'Cause stoppin' us dumb folks from doin' what makes us happy - what comes natur'lly - is a losin' fight.

Comments

[Ken G.]

* Song lyrics used under fair use, journalistic expression, right?

[Brad]

I leaned toward not crediting before I became a partner, but now I mostly use Kevin MacLoed's stuph.

[Ralf Beuker]

Tom, Mike Wagner kindly pointed me to this posting of yours. As you know he (naturally) is what (in theory) is described as 'empathic' (and I mean this in the most positive way ;-). Thanks, Mike!

In any case call it coincidence that we hopefully will talk next Monday as I have an interesting story (that is not ripe to share in public, yet) to share. After all referring to what you describe in your posting the core of my story is about selling 3 used T-Shirts on ebay ... the rest of the case (and brand) to be shared later .... ;-(

[Tom Guarriello]

Ralf, I can't wait for what American radio icon Paul Harvey would call, "the rest of the story" (TM). Uh oh, I probably got myself in some kind of intellectual property trouble, there. Talk next Monday.

[Tom Guarriello]

Of course, Ken! Did I meet all requirements??

[Tom Guarriello]

Yes, Brad, we Partners must be very careful to keep our copyright records pristine! Kevin definitely has become a big hit as a result.