SF BAY GUARDIAN: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT : ARTBEAT
ArtBeat
Spin police
THOUGH THE PHILADELPHIA POLICE have been accused of many things
since the MOVE tragedy and the MUMIA ABU-JAMAL sentencing, you
couldn't accuse them of being too quick on the draw in one
instance: on Feb. 7 the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police
filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania's Court of Common Pleas about a
1992 CD cover made from a 1985 poster created for a Philly police
campaign. The album in question was a reissue by the CRUCIFUCKS,
a little-known Lansing, Mich., punk band that broke up about 10
years ago.
But while the police may have been slow in spotting the so-called
problem, they were way too ready to launch their political
campaign against it: When the FOP held its press conference on
the lawsuit -- a short three hours after it was filed with the
court -- legal papers were just en route to BORDERS BOOKS AND
MUSIC, which carried the album, and ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES, the
S.F.-based record company that released it. Alternative Tentacles
in particular was a little surprised when journalists started
calling about the lawsuit.
States JELLO BIAFRA, no stranger to legal wrangles, in his
written announcement for his record company: "We at Alternative
Tentacles Records are always suspicious of any legal action that
begins with a press conference before anyone is served any legal
papers. Having not seen any papers in regard to this lawsuit, we
have no idea what this is really about."
[481 lines left ... full text available at <url:http://www.reference.com/cgi-bin/pn/go?choice=message&table=05_1997&mid=4147135&hilit=COPYRIGHT+LEGAL> ]
--------------------------------
Article-ID: 05_1997&4292612
Score: 83
Subject: Re: Software conversion legality