Copyright - Protecting Authors' Embarrassing Secrets From Nosy Biographers Since 1911!*

Courtesy of la_marquise_de_ (who alas couldn't attend herself) I went last night to a discussion panel on Copyright vs Free Speech as relating to the literary estates of authors. Organised by English PEN and the Society of Authors, and held at the Guardian Newsroom near Farringdon, it sought to tackle the problems faced by biographers and historians seeking to quote from the works and papers of dead writers. (And you thought living ones were awkward enough!)

( They're even more difficult when they're dead )

(*Yes, copyright has been around since the early 18th century. But the 1911 Copyright Act was noted as the point from where it started to really make things awkward for posthumous biographers.)

Illuminating Art

A couple of weeks ago I took my mother on a visit around the historic buildings of Greenwich. We were particularly impressed with the Painted Hall, built as a dining hall for the sailor pensioners in the Naval Hospital but so grand that it was only ever used either for VIP functions or as an art gallery. But it was a couple of details in the spectacular paintings on the walls and ceiling that caught my attention.

( Some large pictures under here )