In advance of tomorrow's lecture at Cogswell College by Daniel Nazer on copyright law and Fair Use, the organizers at the Bay Area college pose this copyright law scenario:  "Could you put a real person--say Bill Gates--in a computer game? How about a comic book? In both cases, it would be risky to do so without permission from Gates. But what if you transformed Bill Gates into a half man/half worm creature? Strangely, you could probably do that without paying Gates a penny. This doesn't make much sense. Why should transforming Bill Gates into a worm creature make the difference? This weird rule is the result of a test from copyright law--transformation--colonizing other areas of the law."

Titled "Transformation, Copyright, and the Right of Publicity in the Digital Age" the lecture promises to address issues surrounding the all important topic of fair use in this digital age where so information is freely passed around by so many. According to Dr. Alexander Sigman (Adjunct Professor of Digital Audio Technology and Digital Entrepreneurship), who is event organizer & instructor of the course associated with the lecture series. at Cogswell , "In copyright law, something is more likely to be fair use if it somehow "transforms" the original work. Similarly, in right of publicity cases, courts are increasingly looking to whether the depiction of a celebrity is somehow "transformative."" Sigman says that in his lecture Nazer will argue that this transformation test is applied in a way that threatens free speech in the digital age.

We've priced out a varied and deep batch of rare soundtrack LPs over the past few weeks -- from 80's classics like the Last American Virgin & Rad to Italian rarities by Morricone and Trovajoli. Throw in an original Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, horror rarities like Suspiria & Phantasm and an original Dolemite (with the sticker) and you can see just how cool of a collection we're offering!

I was always a way bigger fan of Depeche Mode than U2. I still remember the day I decided to become a Depeche Mode fan instead of U2. It was sort of like the day I decided to become a Blur fan instead of an Oasis fan. I know many people like both bands. I have many friends who like both U2 and Depeche Mode. But for me, I felt like it had to be one or the other. My brother was the U2 fan in the family, so that was probably the main reason I decided to turn my back on U2. To this day I have never really understood everybody's fascination with U2. I think U2 did end up becoming the more popular of the 2 bands. They both still have huge followings. Both are on a short list of rock bands from the 80's that can still sell out huge arena tours and sell tons of albums. U2's first album Boy came out in 1980. No Line On the Horizon is out this week and is the band's 12th album. Depeche Mode's first album Speak and Spell came out in 1981. Their new album, Sounds of the Universe, is also their 12th album. U2 beat them by about a year with their first album and are now beating them by about a month with their 12th album. Anton Corbijn obviously could not make up his mind like I did-- I think he likes both bands equally. He seems to have done almost every video and photo shoot for both bands. I probably will not even get around to hearing the new U2 album, but I am curious how the fans are receiving it. They are one of those bands who put out an album and the longtime fans just automatically buy it. I am the same way with Depeche Mode. I am seriously counting down the days until the new album comes out -- April 21st. Only 47 days to go! But the new single is ready for you to listen to at least. I actually heard it on KROQ for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I probably heard "People are People" for the first time on KROQ as well, many years ago. I may not be a U2 fan, but I do love the U2 fans almost as much as I love the longtime Depeche Mode fans. I sort of stand with them in solidarity. It is not always easy to stand by a band for 28 years, but they make it worth it. Depeche Mode is one of those bands that I can't imagine my life without. One of those bands that we all have been made fun of for liking but also a band that has given us a whole new set of friends and a sort of musical solidarity with each other.

                                                           The Walkmen "In the New Year"

                      Music by Sonicville, Electrabel TV spot "Happy New Year (2009)(France)"