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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-12-17, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17,1997. PAGE 5. I’ll give you some dirty words You want to read some dirty words? I'll give you some dirty words. Levis. Nike. Coca Cola. McDonalds. Kellogg's. Maybe not 'dirty' words exactly - but I could get in a lot of trouble for using them in vain. In fact, technically, I could be sued just for putting them here on this page. Those words are 'copyrighted' - which is to say they are "owned" by the corporations they represent. And if you think the big corporations are bluffing, try erecting a statue of, oh, say, Winnie The Pooh in your town square. Some folks in White River, ON tried that a few years back. White Riverites figured they had a right. The original Winnie had been purchased, as a bear cub by a soldier passing through White River on his way to Europe back in 1914. White River had a faceful of Disney lawyers before the foundation was laid. Turns out that Disney Corp owns the 'rights' to Winnie The Pooh. Which means that nobody can even use the name Winnie the Pooh without Disney's okay. And while we're talking dirty here, I'll lay another bit of gutter talk on you. Casablanca. You thought it was a city in North Africa, right? Nope, and it's not even a movie starring Bogart and Bergman. Officially and legally it is a copyrighted title owned by Warner Brothers. A bunch of The story of aspirin In August, when I was in Germany, I stopped in a drugstore to buy some aspirin. Almost instinctively I asked for Bayer and commented "they have been around a long time". The druggist replied "As a matter of fact, they were created in Germany and this month is the 100th anniversary of their creation". I thought this was worth an article, and tucked it away for future use. Now is as good a time as any. In August 1897, Felix Hoffman a chemist employed by the German company called Bayer, managed to create acetylsalicylic acid, better known as aspirin. In doing so he created the world's first synthetic drug and opened the door for the modem pharmaceuticals industry. This creation was not totally by accident. The basic substance in aspirin is one that accumulates in willow trees and which has been used since ancient times. Egyptians, among others, suffered badly from rheumatism and were aware some relief coul<X be had from certain extracts from willow leaves. And so it went. Down through the ages, funny guys in Hollywood found that out the hard way. Back after the war they announced plans to make a movie called A Night In Casablanca. They were immediately served with a cease-and-desist order from the Warner Brothers lawyers. The word Casablanca was copyrighted, said the writ. Hands off. Unfortunately for the flesh-eating mouthpieces, they were tangling with a troupe that ate their kind for breakfast. The gang that wanted to make the movie A Night In Casablanca was the Marx Brothers. The lawyers from Warner Brothers were attempting to intimidate the legendary gagster siblings Groucho, Chico, Harpo et al. Instead what the lawyers got was a letter from Groucho: Dear Warners: Apparently there is more than one way of conquering a city and holding it as your own. For example, up to the time that we contemplated making a picture, I had no idea that the city of Casablanca belonged to Warner Brothers. However, it was only a few days after our announcement appeared that we received a long, ominous legal document warning us not to use the name "Casablanca". I just can't understand your attitude. Even if they plan on re-releasing your picture, I am sure that the average movie fan could leam to distinguish between Ingrid Bergman and Harpo. I don't know whether I could, but I certainly would like to try. You claim you own Casablanca and that no one else can use that name without your permission. What about Warner Brothers - do you own that, too? You probably have the right to use the name Warner, but what By Raymond Canon reference is made to the properties of willow leaves. In 1763 an Anglican minister is credited with giving the first scientific description of what the willow really did. He pointed out that it had been accepted that "many natural maladies carry their cures along with them or that that their remedies are not far from their causes". He advised people to take 20 grains (1 gram) of powered willow bark in water every four hours. As is usually the case, the development of a specific medication is not the domain of one company or even one country. So it was that the next major step forward came about as the result of independent studies by a French pharmacist and an Italian chemist, both of which led, in 1859, to the compound being made artificially by a German chemist for the first time at 1/1 Oth of the price of a product from willow bark. Almost everybody who takes medicine has, at one time or another, experienced unpleasant side-effects and aspirin was no exception, with the main complaint being that it irritated the stomach. It was this problem that led the German chemist, Felix Hoffman, to whom I referred at the beginning of the article, to produce the product that would be sufficiently palatable to a great many patients. It was at this point that Bayer realized it about Brothers? Professionally, we were brothers long before you were. Even before us, there had been other brothers — the Smith Brothers, the Brothers Karamazov; Dan Brouthers, an outfielder with Detroit, and "Brother, can you spare a dime?" This was originally "Brothers can you spare a dime," but this was spreading a dime pretty thin. The younger Warner Brother calls himself Jack. Does he claim that too? It's not an original name - it was used long before he was bom. Offhand, I can think of two Jacks - there was Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk and Jack the Ripper, who cut quite a figure in his day. This all adds up to a pretty bitter tirade, but I don't mean to. I love Warners - some of my best friends are Warner Brothers. I have a hunch that this attempt to prevent us from using the title is the scheme of some ferret­ faced shyster serving an apprenticeship in your legal department. Well, he won't get away with it! We'll fight him to the highest court! No pasty- faced legal adventurer is going to cause bad blood between the Warners and the Marxes. We are all brothers under the skin and we'll remain friends until the last reel of A Night In Casablanca goes tumbling over the spool. Signed, Groucho Marx Groucho won the day.The Marx Brothers movie A Night In Casablanca was made and released in 1946 without a peep from the Warner Brother lawyers, who were obviously out-bluffed by Groucho's letter. Or perhaps they were just laughing too hard. had a major discovery for the taking. Thus it was that the first mass marketing of any drug took place. Information on aspirin was sent out to 40,000 doctors and by the beginning of World War I, the product was making a healthy contribution to Bayer's profits. In spite of foreign production, Bayer still produces 11 billion tablets a year. But the miracle of aspirin has not stopped there. New recent research shows that an aspirin a day reduces the incidence of heart attacks by a half and it is also valuable in preventing thrombosis and strokes. Even more recent is the discovery that aspirin does a good job in preventing bowel cancer with the reduction being 30 - 50 per cent. Certainly, with all the data in mind, it is not hard to accept aspirin as a truly wonder drug and to wonder, at the same time, if there are even more medical possibilities in the drug that can be bought literally for pennies at your local pharmacist. I take one aspirin a day. I hope it, like the apple, keeps the doctor away. A Final Thought God gives us memory, so that we may have roses in December. The A slight concession A newspaper is a medium through which people can become informed about topical issues. It is as well, a forum for thought, opinion and comment. Letters to the editor arc welcomed, and as I believe people would be reluctant to share their feelings if they felt they would be publically challenged by the editor, I never argue or defend their view. I am, however, making a slight consession this week, more by explanation than as argument, following a letter last week regarding our teen page. Firstly, the writer said the teen page was "monopolized by a select group". This comment provides me with an opportunity I have been waiting for. When the idea was first presented to us by one of the fledgling journalists, it was with the vision that there w'ould be a veritable copy room of teenagers ready to offer comments on any number of timely issues. Contributors were solicited through personal contact, advertising and schools. Unfortunately, the "select group" has inadvertently been chosen by their peers as it were. Because of their interest in writing, because, yes, they were familiar, they were asked. Now, having lined up at the keyboard at the beginning, with no others joining in, they have a commitment to see that the space is filled. And being related to one of the writers, let me stress that she would be thrilled to see her work on the youth page replaced from time to time by another's submission. Secondly, Erin's views on Christmas and Christianity inspired people to read, consider and debate. They were told in an opinion column not as "news" and while people may not agree with them, she is, as is anyone who would refute them, entitled to those thoughts. And, she must also leam the hard lesson that people will sometimes vehemently disagree. That the work may have seemed "contradictory" is, as one Christian woman pointed out to me when I asked for input, probably reflective of the confusion many teenagers are feeling regarding this religious holiday. Also, often in reading columns, different people will uncover different messages. Another church-going person I spoke with said to her the message was if you aren't a believer in Jesus' birth, you have no business celebrating Christmas. Finally, I don't know if it is my experience in journalism or my maternal instinct, but I feel compelled to defend the work on this page. One of our contributors (No, not my daughter) said she feels she has researched each story she did thoroughly and wrote intelligently on each subject. I agree. However, if some of the work's been immature it shouldn't be a revelation — it is a page for teens (13 and up) by teens. If there was not some sense of ingenuousness, some sense of silliness, I would be surprised. While I appreciate, and even agree with, some comments in last week's letter to the editor the bottom line to me is that these kids have taken lime in their young lives to show responsibility by keeping deadlines. They have demonstrated that they do think about important, and yes, sensitive issues and have very real concerns. They have my respect.