tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jan 05 21:42:47 2004
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Re: QUESTION....
On Sunday 04 January 2004 14:30, [email protected] wrote:
> nuqneH;
> yes! i am still awake and still studying. LOL Never did quit. I
> would like to know this too! How can someone OWN a language? What
> the heck??? that is totally messed up!
I don't think that we need to go into detail here, IMHO, because the
KLI has a license to use certain of Paramount's intellectual property.
Speculating more than that will only result in opening up a can of
worms.
I don't practice copyright law, but I think that no one CAN own a
language. I have heard that Paramount has asserted rights to things
such as the words "Star Trek", and I'm not sure that I believe that
their rights go much farther than that. Again, the important thing to
know is that nothing being done on this list or by KLI members is
doing anything improper, IMHO. That is not a legal opinion, but just
a personal opinion which I believe to be sound.
The point that concerns me is the point which Lawrence Lessig makes in
his great book "The future of ideas." Well worth reading.
Specifically, Lessig makes the point that judges are often assuming
off the cuff that the copyright or trademark or service marks apply to
situations where they really shouldn't apply.
So the IP holders have a bit of a veto right or a bit of a
super-claimant's rights, because they have currently succeeded in
causing people to believe that IP rights are paramount (no pun) and
that IP rights apply everywhere, thereby restricting creative
expression.
Again, though, that does not apply to anything which anyone on this
list is doing.
qoloS