One Fish, Two Fish

A buddy of mine sent me a link to Dr. Seuss' old political cartoons he drew for PM Magazine. It's strange to think of Dr. Seuss as anything but an author of children's books, but he was a political cartoonist before he penned Green Eggs and Ham. It's a pretty neat site, and a good way to avoid studying for a few minutes.

I would like to post another Dr. Seuss link, but I can't. Well, I can post the link, but there's nothing there anymore. It used to be "Dylan Hears a Who", and it was a Bob Dylan imitator singing "Green Eggs and Ham". And it was funny. But, the estate of Dr. Seuss threatened suit and the proprietor of the site took it down.

I know why the Seusses sued (say that ten times fast), but this is my real problem with copyright law. It stifles creativity. Someone thought of a funny joke, posted it on the internet for free with no intention of making a profit, and they get slapped by a lawyer. This is the way copyright law works, but this is not it's intent. No person clicked on the site and thought Dr. Seuss had anything to do with it (the Bob Dylan impression was top notch though) and the only reason the joke worked is because we all know Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs And Ham". It didn't cost the Seuss estate a cent, but if they want to protect their copyright against people legitimately ripping them off, they have to go after the internet site.

It's a stupid system. And it's not doing what it is supposed to be doing, which is encouraging artists and inventors to come up with new ideas.