US copyright legislation continues to hamper legitimate exchange of intellectual property, which remains instead in the firm grip of the biggest corporations (under what some call the Mickey Mouse Protection Act). The result is that America lags far behind Europe in terms of freedom of access to and use of old films, old radio and TV broadcasts, old recordings, out-of-print books and articles, etc. Even items being safeguarded by the Library of Congress are not all readily available to our citizens, though tax money funds their storage and preservation: just try seeing older films now “owned” by Sony, for example. Thanks to the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) and other non-profit advocacy groups, efforts are underway to persuade congress to address these problems with revised legislation. Some of us are not holding our breath. But for an update, click here. If enough people complain, there will eventually be some action on the Hill….