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

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

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

"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

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