John Edwards, a textile worker’s son from North Carolina, has made a great deal of his populism. Shouldn’t he apply this philosophy to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act and speak out in one of his podcasts or elsewhere?
Two key Tar Heel bloggers, UNC Law School’s Eric Muller and Greensboro’s Ed Cone, think so. The Muller reaction to the Bono Act: “Copyright holders should be willing to Cher.”
How to make Bono a litmus test for “populist” candidates? Eric Muller’s playful lead masterfully sums up the challenge. “I read the headline of this post–‘Poverty-Fighter Edwards Still Mute on Bono’–and I thought, ‘Gee, I would assume that Senator Edwards likes U2 as much as the next guy.’ But then I realized that I had the wrong singer.”
Earlier, over at Audio Activism, a Carolina blogger named Brian Russell also raised the copyright-extension issue–warning, “Beware those who claim to be for the Poor.” Senator Edwards, who has started an anti-poverty center at UNC, could reduce such concerns by speaking out against the evil Bono.
Update, 6:18 p.m., Washington, D.C., time: Actually it appears that both Bonos are or were evil. Many thanks, Branko! I’ve changed the headline from the original “Evil Bono, not the U2 kind: Tar Heel bloggers want John Edwards to speak out on copyright extension.”
Oh, but Bono of U2 also wants copyright extensions (PDF).