Posts Tagged ‘Thomas Paine’

Paine-Taking Work

Posted in On This Day on April 5th, 2018 by Eugene Finerman – Be the first to comment

Since this day in 1710, this posting is protected–at least in Britain–by copyright. The Statute of Anne, named for someone whose reading was limited to brandy labels, established the first protection of a writer’s rights to his work.  Now Facebook might sell my name to brandy advertisers and Russian prostitutes named Anne, but Mark Zuckerberg cannot claim to have written this.

Unfortunately, the law did not protect Thomas Paine. “Common Sense” may have been a best seller, and at an exorbitant price of two shillings, but Paine was not seeing any money. Most of the sales were of bootlegged editions; and Paine had limited legal recourse. Nine of the colonies had no copyright laws. Four did,however, and their courts would have judged in his favor. However, he also would have been convicted of treason. At least, he could have afforded to custom order his gallows from Chippendale.

So thanks to the Statute of Anne, I–definitely and for the next 75 years or so–wrote this.

Why Thomas Paine Needed an Agent

Posted in General, On This Day on January 10th, 2010 by Eugene Finerman – Be the first to comment

January 10, 1776:  Common Sense is published

The pamphlet was a best-seller, so you can easily imagine that Thomas Paine received a number of lucrative offers to dramatize his work.

Of course, everyone had an idea how to improve the original. David Garrick envisioned a theatrical epic, starting with the depiction of the Boston Tea Party. His version, however, had 200 ships, the naval bombardment of Boston and the subsequent destruction of the British navy.

Pete Beaumarchais wanted to change the title to “Common Senses“, as an indication of the sensual liberation of America. In this bedroom farce, the colonies would be depicted as a pubescent woman with a repressive father. Of course, the young woman’s tutor is handsome and French.

Mozart offered to write the opera if he could find a free week.

Although Thomas Paine was grateful for the free lunches, he declined the offers. He was hoping that Ben Franklin would invent movies.

Two shillings.

 

Why Thomas Paine Needed an Agent

Posted in General, On This Day on January 10th, 2007 by Eugene Finerman – Be the first to comment

On this day in 1776, Common Sense was published. The pamphlet was a best-seller, so you can easily imagine that Thomas Paine received a number of lucrative offers to dramatize his work.

Of course, everyone had an idea how to improve the original. David Garrick envisioned a theatrical epic, starting with the depiction of the Boston Tea Party. His version, however, had 200 ships, the naval bombardment of Boston and the subsequent destruction of the British navy.

Pete Beaumarchais wanted to change the title to “Common Senses“, as an indication of the sensual liberation of America. In this bedroom farce, the colonies would be depicted as a pubescent woman with a repressive father. Of course, the young woman’s tutor is handsome and French.

Mozart offered to write the opera if he could find a free week.

Although Thomas Paine was grateful for the free lunches, he declined the offers. He was hoping that Ben Franklin would invent movies.