One more thing before the library kicks me out: No dubt you've all heard that the theme song to Hockey Night In Canada is in peril. Horrific, scandalous, inconceivable, and so forth.
Of course, I agree with the outrage -- I can't even begin to describe the resonance of that song in Canadian culture. But still, look at the timing of the announcement. The press release indicates that the copyright holder had been in negotiations with the CBC for some time. And then, they issue that press release right after the Stanley Cup, when the director of CBC Sports a) is really busy wrapping everything up, and b) no longer has control of CBC's programming schedule, in which he can present their side of the story.
In fact, the press release was made while said director was mid-flight from Detroit back to Ottawa. One can only imagine the emergency briefing that was waiting for him at the airport...
So, I'm postponing my judgement on this until the rebuttal can be made. But in the meantime, I'd like to reassure everyone that even if CBC no longer holds the rights, it'll still be impossible to keep the crowds from singing it at every opportunity. In fact, it might even become more popular by the time this is all resolved...
...provided that ESPN doesn't buy the rights to it first. Then, we'll have a courtroom battle on copyright law that'll shape the country.
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