Copyrights

12:57 am

so I have got my pack of cigarettes
my drink in a sexy glass
I have got a paunch aching stomach
my imitation of Bukowski is almost complete
now only if the literature Gods would be kind enough
to channel their powers through me.

I was looking through the pictures of Bukowski on the Internet
and below almost all of the pictures was the text
‘Image maybe subject to copyright’
a chuckle worked its way through my lips
it’s funny considering the photographers who took those photos are probably dead
the subject in the photos is definitely dead
but some corporation registered in a gleaming office space somewhere
where smoking is not allowed
drinking is not allowed
holds the rights.

I bought a book recently
‘George Orwell: A Life in Letters’.
the guy who went through probably thousands of letters
and picked out a few of them which bundled together
would make a good book, tell a good story
was thankful to the owners of these letters
for ‘allowing their access and publication’.

somebody else’s private letters and photos are now properties worth auctioning off by someone entirely unrelated.

what a fucking world.