I realize that this thread skirts with being OT, but there are serious implications for Pythonistas and Open Source software types.
I didn't mean to suggest that T.E. moved to California. I did, however, misspeak (mis-type?) when I said Edison formed a studio in California. His was in NJ, according to Google and other officious oracles. A few different accounts of Edison's relationship to the film industry: http://www.filmsite.org/pre20sintro2.html http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/edison_trust.htm FYI, as a newbie to _this_ list, I had some difficulties with my first post to this thread earlier today. It follows at the end of this post. On Nov 13, 2005, at 7:28 PM, Alex Martelli wrote: > David T <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ... >> Tom Edison moved to California so _he_ could skirt copyright laws of > > I'm not aware of any move to California for either the better-known > Thomas Alva Edison, or his lesser-known and less successful son of the > same name. Could you clarify? The movie industry was born in > California to skirt around some of Edison's (and others') patents, but > that's a whole 'nother story, of course. > > > Alex > -- > http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list Just my $0.02: Individuals, and perhaps groups of individuals are the creators of works. Walt Disney was a creator. Disney Inc. is not the creator, but has managed to twist copyright laws to maintain control of Walt's mouse. Tom Edison moved to California so _he_ could skirt copyright laws of the works _he_ was stealing. (See episode 7 of "From the Earth to the Moon" miniseries, re Georges Méliès' 1902 silent film «Le Voyage dans la lune») Edwin Howard Armstrong invented FM radio (and even got the patent), but RCA won the war. The giant corporation was able to twist regulations to drive Edwin to a despairing death. Today, Anne A. Mator might create a new character for Disney Inc., but the copyright belongs to Disney Inc., not Anne. Professor Suchn Such of Abig University might write a book, but "The Regents of Abig University" get the copyright. Annin Ventor might build a better widget for Transnational Megacorp, but Annin will probably never see a dime of profit or recognition. Why? IMHO, most inventors, writers and artists have too much to do and too little spare money to pay lobbyists to have laws written for them. Giant corporations do have the money to get laws written for them. Still, I've never seen a creative corporation or a creative law. The best corporations and governments can do is foster an environment where creativity flourishes and is justly rewarded. Thus, I must express my gratitude to all of those programmers who write open-source code (even if it doesn't go anywhere), and even shareware, and other works which are made available and open at no or reasonable cost. The Python community most of all. A free and open marketplace of ideas and products is quite capable of separating the triticale from the chaff. It makes all of us more productive! --David -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
