a poem

when serpents bargain for the right to squirm
and the sun strikes for a living wage-
when thorns regard their roses with alarm
and rainbows are insured against old age
when every thrush may sing no new moon in
if all screech owls have not okayed his voice -
and any wave signs on the dotted line
or else an ocean is compelled to close
when the oak begs permission of the birch to make an acorn-
valleys accuse their mountains of having altitude -
and march denounces april as a saboteur
then we'll believe in that incredible unanimal mankind
(and not until)

e e cummings

Should I get permission before posting this poem? I think not.

Rather than start with some amazing first post, I will, simply, note The Economist print edition cover for March 21, 2009. This is an image reminiscent of the Saul Steinberg New Yorker cover “a new yorker’s view of the world” that was the subject of a lawsuit that gives so many students of intellectual property headaches. Steinberg v. Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., 663 F.Supp. 706 (S.D.N.Y. 1987).

The movie poster for Moscow on the Hudson had, as a background, an image that imitated large portions of the Steinberg cover. In the litigation, the Steinberg estate prevailed on its claim for copyright infringement on summary judgment (although if one reads the full opinion, it is clear that this was really just a bench trial happening early – the judge as much admits it.).

If a lawsuit were to ensue, the appropriate ruling would be to find no infringement. The copyrightable elements of the Steinberg poster are not copied in the Jon Berkeley image. Only the idea has been copied. And, one of the most fundamental aspects of copyright law is that copyright does not protect ideas, it only protects original creative expression.