See Lawrence Lessig’s op-ed in the New York Times on the proposed Orphaned Works Act. Congress is considering a major reform of copyright law intended to solve the problem of “orphan works” — those works whose owner cannot be found. The problem of orphan works is real. It was caused by a fundamental shift in the architecture of copyright law. Before 1978, copyright was an opt-in system, granting protection only to those who registered and renewed their copyright, and only if they marked their creative work with the famous ©. But three decades ago, Congress created an opt-out system. Copyright protection is now automatic, and it extends for almost a century, whether the author wants or needs it or even knows that his work is regulated by federal law.
The current bill pending before Congress, which Lessig calls “unfair and unwise,” would excuse copyright infringers from significant damages if they can prove that they made a diligent effort to find the copyright owner. The problem, explains Lessig, is that it’s unclear precisely what must be done by either the infringer or the copyright owner seeking to avoid infringement.
WSJ Law Blog May 20, 2008 NYT May 20, 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/opinion/20lessig.html?_r=3&sq=lessig&st=nyt&oref=slogin&scp=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

New Report: Oil Companies' Record Profits Going to Execs and Stock Buybacks, Leaving Energy Alternatives Behind
As oil prices recently reached an all-time high of $130 a barrel for light sweet crude, a new report details decisions by the big five oil companies to use record-breaking corporate profits to boost executive compensation and prop up their stock price with rich stock buy-backs. The report, produced by the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, found that even as American consumers suffer declines in real income and purchasing power, executive pay and shareholder dividends in the oil industry have far outpaced investment in new oil discoveries or alternative energy. The committee looked at executive pay and stock purchases at ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Shell, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron, which combined made $123 billion last year. Big Oil: Where Have All the Profits Gone? Staff Report. May 21, 2008

New on LLRX
The Government Domain: Plain Language in Government Communications: Peggy Garvin demonstrates the impact of the Plain Language in Government Communications Act of 2008 on the accessibility of content posted on e-government websites.
Published May 20, 2008

Sect children improperly seized
A Texas state court of appeals ruled that the state of Texas had no right to seize more than 400 children from its compound in April. Here are reports from the NYT, the Houston Chronicle, Reuters and the AP. Click here for a copy of the ruling. Click here and here for NYT and AP stories on the initial removal of the children.
WSJ Law Blog May 22, 2008

"This is an adventure you will never forget until the day you die."
A story from The Writers and Readers Festival in New Zealand.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10511401&pnum=0

Law is purple and library science is lemon in the world of academic regalia hood colors. Information on multiple degrees and unlisted degrees, along with a color chart is here: http://www.academicapparel.com/caps/regalia_colors.html
American institutions have a standard code of academic dress, but European universities show great diversity in their academic apparel. In America, the bachelor’s hood is three feet long with a two-inch border—master’s is three and one-half feet long with a three-inch border, and doctor’s is four feet long with a five-inch border. Individuals in academic processions usually wear the gown appropriate to their highest degree. However, members of the board of trustees may wear doctoral gowns with hoods appropriate to the degree actually held.
Bucknell University 158th commencement program May 18, 2008

To your health
Pour small amount of lemon or lime juice combined with small amount of oil on rice, barley or pasta. Garnish with fresh herbs or chopped vegetables.

If you live in northern Ohio, or are passing through on your travels, stop in lovely Vermilion on Lake Erie. The Zagat Survey has judged Vermilion’s Chez Francois (440/967-0630) as the highest-rated restaurant for food and service in the greater Cleveland area, and its wine program has been given “The Best of Award of Excellence” by The Wine Spectator for the tenth consecutive year. Its Riverfront Café was voted second best waterfront dining in America by Power and Motor Yacht magazine in 2006.

Zagat (pronounced zuh-GAHT) Survey, the guide empire that started as a hobby for attorneys Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979 as a two-page typed list of New York restaurants compiled from reviews from friends, now reviews and ranks hotels, nightlife, golf courses, spas and more.
See interview with Tim Zagat at JD Bliss Blog:
http://www.jdblissblog.com/2007/06/interview-tim-z.html

More about attractions in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, situated 163 miles from New York City and 123 miles from Washington, DC
James Buchanan’s Wheatland (resides on a little over four acres of land, with gardens in which plants, vegetables and herbs are growing, the same things from President Buchanan's time in the 19th century)
http://www.vacationsmadeeasy.com/LancasterPA/pointsOfInterest/JamesBuchanansWheatlandinLancasterPA.cfm
Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum (housed in bank that failed in the Great Depression and then was vacant for 50 years before restoration) and The Heritage Center Museum (collects, preserves, and interprets Lancaster County Pennsylvania's history and decorative arts)
http://www.lancasterheritage.com/

May 23 birthdays
Margaret Wise Brown, (books by this author) born in Brooklyn (1910). She wrote Goodnight Moon.

Jane Kenyon, (books by this author) born in Ann Arbor (1947), who spent the last days of her life working on her last collection of poems, Otherwise.

It's the birthday of the man who gave us the system of classifying and naming all the living things on the planet, Carolus Linnaeus, born in Råshult, Sweden (1707).
When he published his taxonomy in 1758, he listed 4,400 species known to science at the time. Today there are more than one and a half million.
The Writer’s Almanac