From: robd@cherry09 (Robert Derrick)
Newsgroups: rec.music.folk
Subject: An Apology - was Re: Copy whose right?
Date: 19 Aug 92 19:45:59 GMT
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5

Jon Berger (jonb@Ingres.COM) wrote:
: 
: For the record, I am unable to formulate a response to this that is
: suitable for public dissemination, so I have responded by email.  I am
: inclined to believe that this discussion, if protracted, can do nothing
: but degenerate into a series of personal attacks, and I don't see any
: benefit in that.  Rob has expressed his opinion of me; I will leave the
: readership to guess at mine of him.

I find that I must publicly apologize for the completely unwarranted 
aspersions that I have cast on Mr. Berger.  I was completely wrong
when I insinuated that he supported the letter of the law as pertains
to copyright, and, as he pointed out in a personal email to me,
just because one jaywalks does not equate one with an armed robber.
It was another person who had written words against it, and Mr. 
Berger had only published the Copyright Law article for our edification,
and his support of the provisions of the letter of that Law was neither
stated nor implied.

When I said that he was against distributing lyrics on the net, I was again
incorrect.  He has informed me that he does not have any problem with
exchanging lyrics, and, as he clearly states in the following
paragraph, he believes that prohibiting the writing down of a song's
words "to be fairly silly."

  [from the article pertaining to the Copyright laws...:]
> On the other hand, the way I read this, while it's perfectly legal to
> learn a song off a record, it's illegal to write down the lyrics in the
> process of doing so, even if you destroy the paper copy later.  That does
> seem a bit excessive (although truly hard-core folkies might rejoice
> at the fact that the law mandates the use of strict oral tradition).

He also points out, correctly, that I am not a true performer, but only a
middle-class lackey.  This is of course true.  I like to sing, but the
life of a professional musician is probably forever beyond my capability,
or at least, desire.  That I would somehow use my position in life to
lord it over those folk who simply want to make a living out of music
and reprehensible, and so I also apologize to anyone in that category that
I have so slighted.

And I am also ashamed to say that, other than personally supporting
Equal Rights for Women and Racial Equality, I have never really taken
a stand for a cause, as so many folk performers have.

To paraphrase Dennis Hopper, having a social conscience about the
world takes a whole lot more than going down to the store and
buying a Joan Baez album.  Freedom to live free also means the
freedom to stand up and die, if necessary, for what is right.
This is what folk music is about.  Real life, not middle America
social climbing.  Folk music is a universal binding force that is bigger
and stronger than any individual that is in it, and none are more
insignificant than I.  It transcends any laws that any lawyer tries
to make governing it, because it ultimately belongs to all people of
the earth.  And that is why I love it, although I am only a ordinary
working stiff.

My thanks to all the songwriters of the world, for without your songs,
life would be as drab and dull as a lawbook.

And a personal thanks to Bob Kanefsky, whose song started this
discussion, and whose personal communications on the subject have
shown him to be a right good fellow.

rob derrick -                 How Can I Keep From Singing
Newsgroups: rec.music.folk