Just read in Mark Evanier's Newsblog about the old McDonalds' coffee case that everyone holds up as an example of ridiculous consumer protection. He links to an article that lists the facts of the case. Facts that I recall reading about back when the case was still on everyone's minds. People thought I was nuts to defend the verdict of the jury, but the facts supported it then, as they do now. McDonalds' had heated the coffee up well beyond consumable level, and at the temperature it was served at, the coffee caused third degree burns in less than three seconds.
Think about that for three seconds. In less time, you could have third degree burns from just spilling a little coffee on yourself. If you don't know what third degree burns are; "Third-degree burns, the most serious, involve all layers of skin. Third-degree burns are so deep that only the edges will heal. Scars will eventually cover the rest of the burned area if skin grafting is not done." In less than three seconds, the "most serious" type of burn can happen, just from an accidental spill. Which is what happened to the poor woman who eventually sued McDonalds, after first asking them to just pay her medical bills (they offered her $800, her medical bills topped $11,000).
If you still think the case was silly, go read the article about it. None of that case, from the injuries the woman sustained to the punitive award by the jury, is the slightest bit amusing to me.
Moving on, greetings to Lady Timedramon, a fellow Elseworld fan who commented on my Doctor Who Day article.
As hubby-Eric mentioned in the comments to the same article, we met thanks to Doctor Who (long story short: we met on the Doctor Who boards on Prodigy way back in 1991 or so). And I've been collecting Who memorabilia for some time. I hung out with Anneke Wills (who played Polly in the 1960s) when she lived in Vancouver BC. And I have a 1991 Doctor Who yearbook with the signatures of many of the Who stars I've met, including Carol Ann Ford (Susan), William Russell (Ian), Peter Davison (the 5th Doctor), Michael Craze (Ben), Anneke Wills (Polly), Wendy Padbury (Zoe), Deborah Watling (Victoria), John Levene (Sgt Benton), Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane), John Leeson (voice of K-9), Anthony Ainley (the 2nd Master), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Brian Blessed (he's been in everything), Colin Baker (the 6th Doctor), Sopie Aldred (Ace), and Sylvester McCoy (the 7th Doctor), as well as many of the writers and producers and minor guest stars.
I'll admit I haven't done much with Doctor Who lately, mostly because I've been focusing my fanaticism on Aquaman instead. I seem to work best when I only focus on one hobby at a time.
Moving on again, anyone who likes stories of superheroes crossing over into the real world ought to read this article about a security guard who was dressed as Batman when the bad guys came along.
There's a fantastic article on copyright up at the National Review Online (via Franklin's Findings).
I'm all for striking a balance on copyright law. The constitution says "limited time", which it hasn't been for quite awhile. I think that copyright should always extend the full lifetime of the creator, then no more than 20 years after the creator's death. Why 20 years? Only to support any dependents the creator has until they can support themselves.
In cases of work-for-hire, like, oh, say, Aquaman stories, I think the copyright should stay with the corporation for 20 years, or for up to fifty years if they keep the work in print, at which time the rights go back to the original creators or their estates for the limited time as I explained above.
Of course, in cases like Aquaman, the character itself will always be trademarked, and trademarks don't expire as long as they are used (nor should they!), so the corporations are protected to keep creating new material using the character.
The old stories, though, could be reprinted once they fall into public domain (which, using my Aquaman example, might not happen for a l-o-n-g time, as Paul Norris, the artist on the first Aquaman stories, is still alive).
My thoughts on copyright will never become law. I'm sure there is some fatal flaw in my reasoning that makes the whole concept I've come up with stupid. I can't see it, though, so if you do, please point it out to me!
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