Very revealing look at the history of copyright called “Cultural Economics” by Harry Hillman Chartrand. The whole article is available here and it is very well worth reading. Here is the intro and a bit of early history: The Age of Myth lives! Today’s episode, however, is not about George …

The ’70s dominate this year’s crop: AC/DC, the Clash, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, the Police and the Righteous Brothers are headed for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. The incoming inductees were announced yesterday by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, based in New …

Going to a goth club? Are you lean and pasty, spiked, lipsticked, and eyelined? That’s fine, but you have to know how to dance: You went out to your local goth club in your black velvet frock coat, your hair teased up bigger and rattier than Edward Scissorhands’, and lace …

8 Mile is out today. I am so not an Eminem fan: other than a (very few) catchy little numbers (“Trailer park girls – please stand up – wikky wikky Slim Shady”), nothing about this pud interests me at all (he’s making fun of white trash??). White rapper? So what, …

Steve Martin, who is only 57 but has had gray hair for 40 years, will host the 75th Academy Awards in March, Reuters reports: The March 23 presentation of the film industry’s highest honors will mark Martin’s 10th appearance on an Oscars telecast and his second as master of ceremonies. …

I apologize for doing commentary on commentary, but the coverage of the Winona Ryder has focused on two main themes: fashion and jail time, neither of which has had much to do with the case. Winona, a wealthy youngish movie star, dressed appropriately for her trial – this is shocking? …

Almost to my embarrassment, I find I am becoming a fan of the NY Post’s Page Six gossip section, and in particular Richard Johnson (we’ll call him the “Little Unit” in honor of Randy Johnson’s fifth Cy Young Award). Today he has a classic, Justin Timberlake being interviewed by a …

I just found a noteworthy photography site called Earth Erotica, which urges us to “explore the sensual contours of the earth’s body.” The images are striking, but I think her work would be more compelling still if her selection of images took the earth’s “sensual contours” on its (the earth’s) …

Jump on it, Republicans.

Princeton’s John Halderman is quoted by Barry Fox in New Scientist: In 2001, Princeton University scientists debunked the technology the music industry planned to use to inaudibly watermark sound. Halderman is now doing a similar job on copy prevention systems. Halderman looked at three widely available copy-protected CDs. He found …