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COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND THE SOPHIA STEWART CASE WINS Radio in New York City reported that the Bush administration was taking a serious look into copyright infringement. The report stated that China was the major offender and the United States government was creating a copyright watch alert list. It was reported that American films were being duplicated in foreign countries without the copyright owners receiving compensation and that the administration was going to do all that it could to protect the owners of the copyrights. I was ecstatic to know that the Bush administration was taking a stand on this issue. Copyright infringement or bootlegging of creative works in any form is disgraceful. Admonishing foreign countries is commendable, but one of the largest and most talked about copyright infringement cases is being fought in the United States of America. It is being talked about all over the world. It is all over the Internet. It is embarrassing because a major corporation within the United States has for years kept the case tied up in the judicial system. This is the Sophia Stewart/Terminator/Matrix case. The company which is now infringing upon the copyright is Warner Brothers Studios. I have been following this case for the past few years and it is time that the Justice Department and/or the FBI do something about the crimes which have been committed in this case. Both agencies have investigated the case; yet, it still sits in inertia. This is a complex case because of the relationships and the financial entanglements of the parties involved, but it is criminal that so many sit quietly as Sophia Stewart, the author and the owner of the copyrighted materials, fights valiantly and to date has not been compensated for her work. This is America a country with ideals and values which allows its citizens to express and profit from their creative abilities. It is a land which protects its citizens from theft. Therefore, it is disgraceful that a woman with this type of creative genius is battling Hollywood instead of being nurtured by Hollywood. The energy that she has put into her legal battle could be used to create more works such as The Terminator and The Matrix. Everyone including major corporations can profit from her genius. She produced this work over twenty years ago. I wonder what she would be producing today if she had not spent the last nine years entangled in a legal battle laced with greed and deceit. Too many people sit idly by and say nothing about injustices which are committed. Yet, we expect for the generations which come after us to respect us. We allow egregious attacks on justice and for long periods of time those with the most resources blatantly committee acts which are in opposition to everything ethical. We teach our youngsters ethics. We teach our youngsters right and wrong. Yet, we are blind or too busy to right wrongs which support the values that we believe. When young people mock us because of our hypocrisy and hold in high esteem the entertainers who thumb their nose at society, we are outraged. We cannot understand why they respect outspoken semi-thugs, rather than political and business leaders who waiver and negotiate with the truth. Our technology, our media no longer protects our young from the ugly realities of corruption. Since the fall of President Nixon, our weaknesses, our idiosyncrasies, our dirty secrets are out in the open for the world to see. There is no longer a wall protecting us from that which we do not need to know. We teach our young that they can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. We teach our young that all things are possible if they acquire a good education, but we fail to prepare them for those who will steal their ideas, steal their copyrighted materials and use resources to push them aside and stomp on their rights. We fail to teach them how to tear down the walls of Jericho and yet we are angry by the violence, by the drugs, by their distorted perceptions of reality. Sophia Stewart is the Mother of the Matrix. The Terminator/Matrix franchise is a multi-million dollar empire. Yet, the Mother of the Matrix, the creator of the Matrix who unquestionably owns the copyrights to the Third Eye, the source material of these films, has been in a twenty first century David vs. Goliath battle for over nine years. She has yet to receive one penny for her work. Is this not a crime? This is a disgrace to our legal system. This is a disgrace to our democracy. This is a disgrace to the values which we as Americans represent. Some times, I wonder if the parties involved believe in our Judeo-Christian ethic: you reap what you sow. Some times, I wonder if the parties involved believe in karma. It is time that Ms. Stewart receives compensation for her work.
When it comes to justice, I am not a Republican; I am not a Democrat; I am an American, an American who believes that with our foibles we represent light. We represent justice and we must always keep our own backyards clean. Once this case is resolved, giving the appropriate compensation to the writer, then the world will know, China and the rest of those who are bootlegging American films, that we do not play. If we do not put our own copyright infringers in check, when it is appropriate, then it is hard for other countries to take us seriously. As an American woman who whole-heartedly believes in the American dream, who whole-heartedly believes that justice prevails, who whole-heartedly believes that one person can make a difference, who whole-heartedly believes that young people need valiant role models who are living breathing beings, not just comic heroes; I proclaim that it is our responsibility as Americans to stand up, intervene and use our voice to bring closure to this case. It is our responsibility as Americans to insure and protect the rights of each of its citizens. It is our responsibility as Americans to insure the rights of our artists, be they writers, singers, musicians, comedians or other creative artisans in the entertainment industry. The liberties that we enjoy today have endured throughout the decades because there were those who were willing to fight for, protect and preserve these freedoms. As recipients of these freedoms, it is our obligation to participate in the process of insuring that our fellow countrymen do not fall prey to theft, greed and the entanglements of corruption. It is time that Sophia Stewart, the Mother of the Matrix receives the appropriate credit and compensation for her work. It is time that the battle in the courts ends and she uses her genius to create more phenomenal works such as the Matrix. Glenda R. Taylor Copyright 2006 |
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