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Carl Sagan and marijuana?
In article ,
Jim Davis wrote: Guido Marx wrote: 1. It's easy to make claims about dead people. Of course - Mr. Sagans estate is certainly entitled to sue people for slander or libel. His name is still worth lots of money - so I'm sure the damages would be substantial. To my knowledge - Sagan's estate hasn't done anything. My understanding is that you can't slander or libel the dead. You can call Sagan a serial killer on a billboard in Times Square and Sagan's estate can't do a thing about it. Jim Davis That's the Anglo-American common law rule and has been for centuries. However, defamation is a state-law matter and I wouldn't put it past certain state legislatures to adopt statutes in derrogation of the common law in order to appease special interests. I know Tennessee's legislature modified the common law with regard to certain publicity interests to keep Elvis' estate happy and I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that California and perhaps NY might have done the same. Tennessee did it so that the King's estate might still rake in the $$$ for use of his likeness and image on things like mugs, T-shirts, etc. Typically, the rule had been that one's interest in one's likeness or image ended with death. Not anymore in this state and quite possibly many others. So, having deemed that a man several decades dead can still rake in millions of dollars from the sale of bundt cake pans in his likeness, it's a very small step to take to decide that his Estate also has an interest in his reputation, thus opening up the law of defamation to include defaming the dead. I note (with more than a trace of cynicism) that this sort of thinking is the same profit-above-all thinking that has led to the current extension of copyrights until the end of the human race or the heat death of the universe, whichever comes last. :-/ -- Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D. Reformed Aerospace Engineer Columbia Loss FAQ: http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html |
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Herb Schaltegger wrote: In article , Jim Davis wrote: Guido Marx wrote: 1. It's easy to make claims about dead people. Of course - Mr. Sagans estate is certainly entitled to sue people for slander or libel. His name is still worth lots of money - so I'm sure the damages would be substantial. To my knowledge - Sagan's estate hasn't done anything. My understanding is that you can't slander or libel the dead. You can call Sagan a serial killer on a billboard in Times Square and Sagan's estate can't do a thing about it. Jim Davis That's the Anglo-American common law rule and has been for centuries. However, defamation is a state-law matter and I wouldn't put it past certain state legislatures to adopt statutes in derrogation of the common law in order to appease special interests. I know Tennessee's legislature modified the common law with regard to certain publicity interests to keep Elvis' estate happy and I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that California and perhaps NY might have done the same. Tennessee did it so that the King's estate might still rake in the $$$ for use of his likeness and image on things like mugs, T-shirts, etc. Typically, the rule had been that one's interest in one's likeness or image ended with death. Not anymore in this state and quite possibly many others. So, having deemed that a man several decades dead can still rake in millions of dollars from the sale of bundt cake pans in his likeness, it's a very small step to take to decide that his Estate also has an interest in his reputation, thus opening up the law of defamation to include defaming the dead. Sagan was evidently sensitive to use of his name while alive: "According to Hugh Madison he was also a jerk:" "Sagan was known to have a bit of an ego. In 1994, Apple Computer began developing the Power Macintosh 7100. They chose the internal code name "Sagan", in honor of the astronomer. Though the project name was strictly internal and never used in public marketing, when Sagan learned of this internal usage, he sued Apple Computer to use a different project name. Though Sagan lost the suit, Apple engineers complied with his demands anyway, renaming the project "Butthead Astronomer". Sagan sued Apple for libel over the new name, claiming that it subjected him to contempt and ridicule. Sagan lost this lawsuit as well." from http://homepage.mac.com/pblake/webpa...77/E189953942/ I note (with more than a trace of cynicism) that this sort of thinking is the same profit-above-all thinking that has led to the current extension of copyrights until the end of the human race or the heat death of the universe, whichever comes last. :-/ Eisner should be hung by his balls. -- Hop David http://clowder.net/hop/index.html |
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On Wed, 05 May 2004 17:16:10 -0700, Hop David
wrote: Eisner should be hung by his balls. ....He's already had one of them handed to him on a plate by the Disney shareholders. The idiot needs to read the writing on the wall and just leave before they put him in front of it and throw the blindfold on. OM -- "No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society - General George S. Patton, Jr |
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"OM" om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy_NASA_researc h_facility.org wrote in message ... On Wed, 05 May 2004 17:16:10 -0700, Hop David wrote: Eisner should be hung by his balls. ...He's already had one of them handed to him on a plate by the Disney shareholders. The idiot needs to read the writing on the wall and just leave before they put him in front of it and throw the blindfold on. To be fair, he's also the same genius who approved Schoolhouse Rock, perhaps the most fundamental gift to education since the chalkboard. Still, it seems Disney's creativity goes down the drain a little bit every time he showers |
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On Thu, 6 May 2004 12:22:43 -0400, "Scott Hedrick"
wrote: To be fair, he's also the same genius who approved Schoolhouse Rock, perhaps the most fundamental gift to education since the chalkboard. ....Perhaps, but by most accounts his approval was basically to rubberstamp it and move on. He really didn't take much time to deal with kidvid stuff in those days at the Alphabet network. OM -- "No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society - General George S. Patton, Jr |
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