Intellectual Property and Copyright Lawsuits Silence Small Venue

The owner of Luke's Lounge, a small bar and long-time music venue in downtown Dixon, was informed late last year that he could not have live music in his bar unless he payed exorbitant licensing fees to the ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers). Here is part of a local article on the matter:

The bar no longer hosts live performances because of the cost of license fees that The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) demands for live performances.  It’s a fee that Luke’s Lounge owner Nate Luke said he is no longer willing to pay.

ASCAP is an organization that represents 400,000 or more U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music, according to its web site.

ASCAP said it protects its members through licensing and collecting royalties for public performances of their work. Known among musicians as “the collection society,” ASCAP also said it makes giving and obtaining permission to perform music “simple for both creators and users of music.”

Risk of IP lawsuits are a major concern for unlicensed music venues. I believe that IP and copyright laws need to be changed to make it less risky for smaller music venues so that the form of legal extortion can be stopped. This is literally a "pay to play" situation.  Read the whole story here.

YAL and Ron Paul in California Editorial

My mother, who writes for the Dixon Patch, ran this editorial which has been placed on several Patches in the surrounding area. Here's part of it:

... a story in Time Magazine says why the revolutions across the world are different this time: “The combination of youth and technology is driving a wave of change.” The story is about the Middle East revolution due to young, determined, democracy seekers who changed their world through Internet communications.

I’m filled with hope after seeing Ron Paul emerge as a presidential candidate a couple years ago backed by youth. The hard-working obstetrician and elected Texas congressman — and the constitution movement — had been virtually ignored and shunned by the media. I didn’t even know who he was and had never heard of him until I kept seeing signs and stickers that just said his name. So, at my son’s request, I went on YouTube to see him. You need to also.

Dixon High Telegram Story on YAL@DHS

The Dixon High School Telegram wrote a short, confusing article about the YAL@DHS chapter. It pretty much got our philosophy all jumbled but hey, it's publicity, right?

Here's an excerpt:

There are many clubs on campus run and designed by students. Young Americans for Liberty is a relatively new club founded by Sophomore Devon Minnema that is gradually gaining members.  As a Freshmen, Devon’s club only had four members, but it has evolved into a well run club. They meet approximately every Tuesday in room D206 or in the computer lab.  There are two teachers supervising the club, Mr. Zoller and Mr. Vlach.  Listen to the announcements to learn when and where the next meeting will be.  Next week is recruitment week, so you will see members of the Liberty Club all around campus, handing out student petitions and trying to recruit new members.

Devon says that the goal of the club is to “get as many people on campus as possible to hear the tenets of Libertarianism”.

Read the whole thing here.

It's All About Personal Responsibility

The Vacaville Reporter just ran this great letter to the editor by a California Bay Area resident named Tom Leary. His argument is that preventative laws and weapon control laws are "nonsensical" because individuals determined to do harm will not be stopped by a ban on weapons or anything for that matter. Here it is:

Unbelievable. In the wake of the contemptible murders in Tucson, Ariz., there are those who would place the blame on anyone or anything but the killer himself. It takes me back to my college days and the sociology classes that purported to explain deviant human behavior by citing environmental reasons that contributed to such behavior. The professors cited family issues, work environments and disrupted relationships. Today, political discourse is cited as a contributing factor to the killer's deviant behavior.