Memories of Alcohol~~Author Unknown.

I have observed that there are several websites FALSELY claiming ownership of this article; but, of course, since the original author is UNKNOWN and the silhouette PUBLIC DOMAIN; such claims are fraudulent, and completely illegitimate.

I drank for self-confidence and lost it all. I drank for strength and grew weaker. I drank to make conversation easier and slurred my speech. I drank for happiness and became unhappy. I drank for joy and became miserable. I drank to appear “cool” and became “Uncool”. I drank for sociability and became argumentative. I drank for sophistication and became obnoxious. I drank for friendship and made only enemies. I drank for relaxation and got the “shakes”. I drank for sleep and woke up tired. I DRANK TO FEEL HEAVENLY; ENDED IN HELL. ~ Al (Alex-Alexander) D Girvan.

About Robert W Service (1874-1958). Public Domain, No U.S. Copyright Control; Or Right to Object To Use.

Do you want some of us?

"Popeye, Grey Owl, and Robert Service join the public domain."

While U.S., copyright law does in  some instances appear to protect creations longer-if they were done as works for hire and are dated-the works of Robert Service were not done for hire and although copy right can be bought and sold it is still the original copyright .

 As confirmed below,Bryant H. McGill has absolutely no rights to the works of Robert Service or many of the other works on which he is apparently still claiming such.

 

He is still being illegitimately and illegally linked to my blog site.

Published 2003/7/21 by webmaster-From Robert Service Home Page
"I administer the subsidiary rights to this poetry throughout the British Commonwealth based upon a British statute of 1911 which reverts copyright to estates 25 years after death. U.S. rights have a renewal provision for copyrights upon their 28th year but many are the Robert Service poems that are of an age from before 1923 wherein public domain sets in which means no U.S. copyright control or right to object to use. All other poems are subject to negotiation. All poems regardless of age are protected in British Commonwealth for 70 years from death ( Canada is still pending an extension from 50 years).

It is rare that a non English speaking request comes in. We inspect closely for keeping the integrity of the poems and also for avoiding any impersonations of the great poet by well meaning individuals who want to dress up as if they were Robert W. Service reciting his own poems. It is considered bad taste and we prefer other presentations. There are numerous requests for motion picture rights and this involves questions of nature of use, duration and form of use and whether non exclusive rights suffice.

My e mail address is bill@krasgrosslaw.com and my fax is 212 983 3228. Please be prepared if asking rights for inclusion in a book to identify publisher, number of intended print run, price and nature of use as well as total number of pages in total book so that we know what percent comes from the intended Service works.

51 East 42nd Street, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10017"--http://www.robertwservice.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=837

Published 2003/7/21 by webmaster

THERE IS NO COPYRIGHT AND NO CONNECTION; THERE SHOULD BE NO LINK

But, did the disciples have a"Special" message? 

This man’s first name might be Alison, Austin, Bryant, Carol, Elizabeth, Emily, Jack, Jill, Jesus, Robert, William.

His last name might be, Burns, Carol, Campion, Christ, Dickinson, Gray, Greene, Gross, Keats, McGill, Service, Shakespeare, Wordsworth

He may be a celebrity—a great educator, poet, writer, wit (nit or otherwise). He may claim to be the son of God. He may even have collected, posted definitions, explanations, made notes on, framed watermarked, done most anything and he owns copyright on what HE may have done; but he cannot own copy rights to the songs, poems or quotations or verses of William Blake (1757-1827), Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), Robert Browning (1806-1889), Robert Burns (1759 1796)Lord George Gordon Byron (1788-1824), Emily Dickinson (1830-1886, Thomas Gray (1716- 1771), Robert Greene (1560-1592), John Keats (1795- 1821), Robert Service (1874 1958), William Shakespeare (1564-1616), William Wordsworth (1770-1850) OR THE LORD'S PRAYER (which is probably why there are two versions of it in the bible, depending of course, which version of the bible you happen to have). Such works are public domain, there are no copyrights; except as I have already attributed, none of the poems, songs, or quotations that I have posted on my blog should be linked to anyone of anything else.

Bryant McGill and His Blatant Highly Illegal Plagiarism

First of all, to start out, let me state categorically that I have absolutely no personal vendetta against Bryant McGill. I do not know the man and he, his publications, and his websites, are far from being the only “Celebrity” or “Government Sponsored” archives, collections, or re-writings that are guilty of the ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES that I am about to point out; it is just that his name is becoming more and more linked to my postings and this blog. Of course, I am not a “celebrity” and mine are just little; non-commercial, insignificant, hobby blogs that do not really matter—except to me—and-- my few international readers. For those of you that may not already know:

“Bryant McGill is an internationally renowned author, essayist, speaker and activist in the fields of self-development, personal freedom and human rights. He is an iconic personality and cultural critic, whose writings have reached millions of people and appeared in thousands of works by other authors, educators and social leaders. His writings on values have been featured alongside Mohandas Gandhi, Albert Einstein and Mother Teresa at the prestigious Foundation for a Better Life, who has called McGill one of “the brightest minds in human history.” In an official Congressional commendation, the nation’s leaders applauded McGill’s, “highly commendable life’s work,” as an Ambassador of Goodwill. His writings have been published in over 70 books and translated into 15 languages by publishers such as Cornell University, UNESCO, Simon and Schuster, Random House, HarperCollins, Writer's Digest and Walt Disney Company. McGill is a sought after workshop leader, and a speaker who has delivered speeches with diverse groups, from the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office and Chief of the LAPD, to the United Nations, with Dr. Gandhi, Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and the UN Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs.”

--The above information can be found on several websites: including but not limited to bryantmcgill.com/about/ and wikipedia.com

So, since I have nothing personally against Mr McGill, just what is the purpose of this posting? What are my complaints? Why do I object to my name being linked to his? What are the illegal activities to which I refer?

1.       Any material that was first published before Sept of 1923 is by US of A copyright law PUBLICDOMAIN.

2.       Any material,( by the same laws), of which the original author or creator has been dead for over fifty years; is PUBLIC DOMAIN and cannot be re-copyrighted unless there have been “real and significant artistic contribution”. While it cannot be denied that the translation of poetry into a different language, or languages, while still maintaining the essence or the original poem, requires considerable artistic talent; most of these works were fully translated before Mr. McGill was born and in any case, rights apply to the modified version only—not to the original—or the original copyright, which also cannot REALLY be sold or taken over by anyone else. No matter what, it is still the original copyright.

3.       You cannot copyright an idea. Short quotes generally represent ideas and for this reason are not subject to copyrights; and, while quotes about common wisdom, creation, existence, family, love, life etch are often attributed to some well-known celebrity there is absolutely no positive infallible way of knowing when they were first said; or by whom. We do know that there is nothing that can be said today; that has not been expressed; as an idea, or as an opinion, by someone, somewhere, very much previously.

4.      Any claim to copyrights of material which is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN; especially when that material was translated into the various languages, published, and copyrighted, long before you were born, amounts to blatant plagiarism and is therefore illegal.
      Mr McGill  can not just decide that he is going to take over copyright of MY, OR ANYONE ELSE'S ORIGINAL, AND COPYRIGHTED WORKS; as he is apparently trying to do with my posting entitled TRUE AND LASTING LOVE DEFINED.

5.      It does not take very thorough examination of the poems and quotations--most of what is  now claimed by, or commonly attributed to, Mr McGill-- to realize that, at the very least, it is exactly that—BLATANT,  UNMITIGATED, PLAGIARISM.