O Sweet Mr Math

wherein is detailed Matt's experiences as he tries to figure out what to do with his life. Right now, that means lots of thinking about math.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

7:40 PM

I just have a quick observation following the record breaking opening of Revenge of the Sith. The original maximum term of copyright under United States law was 28 years. Coincidentally, Star Wars was originally released 28 years ago. The significance of this should be obvious to anyone who thinks the Special Edition versions of the movies were not improvements on the original theatrical versions of the movies.

George Lucas considers the Special Edition versions of the original Star Wars trilogy to be the official versions of the movies. Consequently, the original versions of the movies have never been released on DVD. Lucas also will not allow theatrical reshowings of the original movies. Since the duration of copyright has been extended to 95 years, it's safe to assume that almost no one old enough to have seen Star Wars in its original release will live long enough to have the opportunity to see the original movie in a movie theater or to view the movie on a legal, commercially released DVD.

Under the original terms of copyright, Star Wars would enter the public domain next year, giving fans the ability to watch the version they want. Under current law, relying on illegal bootlegs or accepting the changes Lucas has made are the only alternatives.

I'm mentioning this less as a call to action and more as an observation. Copyright law impacts fans as well as creators. This week, it's Star Wars fans' turn to be caught by copyright law.

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FAQ

What does "rolls a hoover" mean, anyway?

"Roll a hoover" was coined by Christopher Locke, aka RageBoy (not worksafe). He enumerated some Hooverian Principles, but that might not be too helpful. My interpretation is that rolling a hoover means doing something that you know is stupid without any clear sense of what the outcome will be, just to see what will happen. In my case, I quit my job in an uncertain economy to try to start a business. I'm still not sure how that will work out.

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BlogSpot adds the advertisement that appears at the top of this page. That advertisement is not valid HTML and is outside of my control. I believe that aside from that ad, this page is valid HTML.