Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Interpretation of US copyright

[Robinson Tryon]

On Sun, May 31, 2015 at 1:45 PM, A. Mani <a.mani.cms@gmail.com> wrote:
> Is this interpretation correct?
> http://ipkitten.blogspot.in/2015/05/a-bird-doesnt-sing-because-it-has.html

Correct?
Legal per US law?
Proper?
Just?

Some of those questions are easier to answer than others. What I will
say is that it's unfortunate that an institution as widely known,
prominent, and enduring is putting out an official, widely-distributed
document of value that is insanely misleading. To add insult to
injury, it doesn't do anything for the image of the Federal government
that (at least according to the articles I've read) they have no
interest in ammending the stamp to allieviate confusion.

In the grand tradition of Senators and Representatives who have far
too much to say on topics of little to no value to the American
public, the spokesman of the USPS sidestepped the issue and gave us
little comfort and no credit to the original author with this:
“The sentence was chosen to accompany her image on the stamp to
reflect her passion for the written and spoken word. ... [It] held
great meaning for her, and she is publicly identified with its
popularity.”

Does one own words? Do we have a right to be credited forever for what
we say and do, to the exclusion of others enjoying and even being
associated with the same?  Well... I do enjoy hearing other people
opine on the subject :-)

I didn't realize it at first, but the sentence right under her name is
*in quotation marks*. If they were to just remove the quotation marks,
I think it would make things much better. I mean, c'mon -- we call
them *quotation* marks for a reason!

Best,
--R

-- 
Robinson Tryon
QA Engineer - The Document Foundation
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