Day 139: An Outstanding Balance — The Lifelong Fight for Orphan Works
- mainemoviepirate
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
ACTUAL ENTRY - 11/08/21 - MON [written above crossed out SUN] -
Either I didn't sleep or I dreamed I didn't sleep or a mixture. Low motivation day. Try not to sleep so I can sleep well tonight. Yet having trouble focusing on this journal. Can't even get the day right, went back to sleep for a little bit. Worked on Orphan Works outline, get that fucker done so I can move on to creative stuff only, or mostly as it was. Try to get back to where I was mentally in Castine, in 2018, my creative energy was as high as it's been in decades. Need to get back that, just because my body is locked doesn't mean my mind and spirit is. Zen. Mindful. Cereal.
LUNCH: fish friday spilled over Into Tuna Monday. Tho the vegetable soup wasn't bad. Ate only a few beans (too many), Salad (Ate all) Cold garlic (?) MAC (ate most). 2 pieces bread in reserve (Bird fund), 1 orange in reserve.
Did more OW, some legal research. Not a lot on Orphan Works on the law library, I hope to change that. Must push Steve on that one. (Hopefully with the FU/IL/108 statue)
SUPPER: Some kind of ground up meat with mystery veggies-labelled as chilli on the menu. Wh Rice, Corn, Cornbread (BIRD Fund) and another wonderful meal here at Camp Devens is in the log book.
Another day down, another hurdle jumped on the race to freedom. Big Mail day, 4 BDNS, two books, Dracul and Law Dictionary, Bucksport PD, not much on that one, it was a long shot any way and a letter from Sonny.
[Bottom of page]
No You're in my Seat Day 4, should checked the papers but I didn't.
Four Years Later -
It was a short entry, but there was a lot going on. I was struggling then, much like I do now, to maximize my creative writing time. There have only been a few times over the last twenty years when I truly felt complete as a full-time writer. Back in Castine in 2018, my living conditions allowed me to write with the deep personal satisfaction of actually getting projects done. I would eventually find that same sense of accomplishment again inside Devens when I finally tackled BarBell, writing every single day until I finished the first draft.
On the Legal Battlefield: I was trying to finish my paper on Orphan Works. While my lawyer completely ignored it for the direct appeal, I think that paper is way more relevant now. With my sentence nearly complete and my restitution (which was only for the mail fraud add-on charge and amounted to less than 1% of total sales) PAID IN FULL, the system would say my debt to society is also PAID IN FULL.
I don’t see it that way. I still have an outstanding balance: fixing our broken copyright laws, or at the very minimum, getting true legal clarification on the Fair Use of Orphan Works. And that is a debt I will continue to work on paying down until I get an answer or I die—whichever comes first.
