Blue Mass Group

I posted last night about the MA GOP’s silly ad that may have committed a non-silly violation of federal copyright law.  A vigorous discussion ensued, with EaBo and Dan Kennedy taking the view that using a James Taylor song as the background music to an ad attacking Deval Patrick, Barack Obama, and (says EaBo) today’s rally at which all three are appearing, should constitute “fair use” as a “parody.”

Turns out, there actually is some law on this question.  My bottom line: based on existing law, this is an interesting case, but while it’s not a slam-dunk for either side, the better argument is that the ad does not constitute “fair use.”  To the flip!

My letter in the Arlington Advocate supporting Deval Patrick for a second term as governor. As many here know, I do not agree with Governor Patrick about everything, most certainly about indigent defense or court funding.  However, his willingness to take responsibility for failures as well as successes AND lead from the front, in the field with his staff and volunteers has won my respect. Further, the other candidates have not taken personal responsibility for issues in their political pasts.  I refer to Baker’s history as a political insider on Beacon Hill – and what he did on Beacon Hill during Republican administrations, or as a CEO.  Whether it is as Chief of Administration and Finance or as Chief of Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan to me it looks like Charlie Baker is 100% interested in the well being of Charlie Baker and the rest of us are a shadowy chorus line.  I have also never seen Charlie Baker admit to an error, or lead from the front, or extend himself compassionately.  Maybe I missed something and links to Charlie Baker admitting error or being compassionate towards the disabled, towards struggling single parents, the unemployed, towards anyone who is not in [...]

With Gov. Patrick widening his lead in the polls and the President in town holding a huge rally for the Gov. this afternoon, the Patrick haters have been making increasingly strained arguments in an effort to bolster Baker’s flagging campaign. With the facts against them, Patrick’s critics are pretty clearly running on fumes.

Consider a couple of recent examples:

Hi All: Jackass 3D opened in theaters nationwide yesterday! If activism within the Democratic Party got one tenth of the publicity that this movie is getting, I wouldn’t have ultra conservative (anti-choice & anti- equal marriage “democrats”) Mike Rush and Steven Lynch respectively as the Democratic nominees for State Senate and U.S. Representative in my neighborhood. Think about it. And after two days, Jackass 3D is now the #1 movie in the country.

The Chamber of Commerce makes a disgusting remark about working class people who have lost their jobs due to outsourcing.  ”stop whining” he said. This same Chamber is flooding our election in favor of Republicans.  This can only mean one thing, the republicans they are supporting also support outsourcing of American jobs. This was prevalent during the debate about taxing corporations higher that outsource and giving a generous tax break to those who come back the the USA. Every Republican voted against it. name=”msnbc972bb9″ src=”http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640″ width=”420″ height=”245″ FlashVars=”launch=39679326&width=420&height=245″ allowscriptaccess=”always” allowFullScreen=”true” wmode=”opaque” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” pluginspage

Charlie Baker implores us in his ad:  ”If you think Massachusetts is going in the right direction, then vote for the governor.”   Let’s see, unemployment is lower than in the rest of the country, the state economy is recovering quicker than the national economy, the Commonwealth’s first quarter of tax collections is above target. There are more good things out there.  I am going to take Charlie’s advice, and vote for the governor. Who would ever pay for an ad that includes the advice to vote for the opponent in any fashion? Potential to flip the undecideds the other way!

So the MA GOP has a new web ad that’s supposed to be this big attack on Deval.  It’s painfully lame.  But it also may violate the copyright laws.  Here’s the ad.  Can you identify the singer? That’s right – that’s James Taylor singing one of his most famous songs.  The same James Taylor, by the way, who is headlining at a big Deval rally with President Obama this weekend.  Now, maybe the MA GOP asked Mr. Taylor for permission to use his song in their ad, and maybe he agreed.  But I have to say, that seems a tad unlikely to me.  Maybe someone will ask him at the rally this weekend.  :-) Anyway, I’m just really curious to know how this ad doesn’t violate Mr. Taylor’s copyright.  After all, David Byrne sued Charlie Crist for a million bucks over a very similar situation, and the national GOP got burned by Jackson Browne for the same thing in 2008.  I asked MA GOP chair Jennifer Nassour over the Twitter whether she got proper permission.  We’ll see if she responds.  Not holding my breath.

Borowitz: Palin’s Evolution into O’Donnell Proves Darwin Was Wrong: Scientists Propose ‘Theory of Devolution’ OSLO, NORWAY (The Borowitz Report) – Two of the theory of evolution’s most vociferous doubters, Sarah Palin and Christine O’Donnell, may be living proof that Darwin was wrong, leading scientists believe. A conference of the most prominent evolutionary scientists in the world has concluded that the apparent evolution of Ms. Palin into Ms. O’Donnell suggests, in the words of Dr. Hiroshi Kyosuke of the University of Tokyo, “that Darwin got it backwards.” “We still believe that evolution is more than a theory and is, in fact, a very real thing,” said Dr. Kyosuke.  ”However, in the case of Palin and O’Donnell, it seems to be moving in a reverse direction.” Dr. Kyosuke stunned the conference when he presented his scholarly paper, “Tea Party Politicians and the Theory of Devolution,” in which he studied the so-called “reverse natural selection” at play in GOP candidates for Governor of New York. “If we chart the trend line from George Pataki to Carl Paladino, within fifty years New York might be governed by Cro-Magnon Man,” he said. Credit: Daniel Kurtzman. Onion: Congress Sets Sail In Search Of Fabled Sword Of [...]