[cc-community] The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property

David Berry d.berry at sussex.ac.uk
Fri Dec 8 09:12:43 EST 2006


8 Dec 2006


Dear Norman Baker MP,

As I am sure you are aware the The Gowers Review of Intellectual  
Property has been released and made some sensible suggestions about  
intellectual rights and most importantly advised against a copyright  
term extension for sound recordings.

However it turns out that yesterday (7 Dec 2006), there was an ad in  
the FT listing 4,000 musicians who supported retrospective term  
extension for sound recordings. If you read the list, you’ll see that  
at least some of these artists are dead (e.g. Lonnie Donegan, died 3  
November 2002; Freddie Garrity, died 19 May 2006).

It is interesting to see so many musicians mobilizing in support of  
the lobbying efforts of the record industry to increase a monopoly at  
the expense of the public good, it is even more surprising to note  
that the record industry are somehow are able to channel the wishes  
of the dead.

It rather reminded me of a letter from Thomas Jefferson to James  
Madison on 6 September 1789 in which he wrote: "I set out on this  
ground,  which I suppose to be self evident, that the earth belongs  
in usufruct to the living; that the dead have neither powers nor  
rights over it..."

I hope you will take the opportunity to raise this matter with the  
Department of Culture Media and Sport.

Best regards

David Berry




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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1967046,00.html







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