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Nabhan, Victor --- "Closing Speech" [2010] ELECD 528; in Bently, Lionel; Suthersanen, Uma; Torremans, Paul (eds), "Global Copyright" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Global Copyright

Editor(s): Bently, Lionel; Suthersanen, Uma; Torremans, Paul

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848447660

Section Title: Closing Speech

Author(s): Nabhan, Victor

Number of pages: 3

Extract:

Closing Speech
Victor Nabhan*

Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have now reached the end of a three-day journey. It has been an
exceptional journey, which started off with the Statute of Anne and ended
up with global world copyright in the digital age, let alone cosmic copy-
right, if one follows the path of Professor Sterling, a man of great vision.
A few days ago, I received a book sent to me by Professor Paul
Torremans. It had a note attached to it which read as follows:

Dear Victor
You will find that reading this book is very useful and instructive before attend-
ing our Congress in London.
Yours Truly,
Paul

The title of the book: `The Aliens Guide to Britain and the British'.
I went through the book and found it quite an eye opener!
I learned, among other things, that `the English appear as one thing, and
are actually another. They say one thing, and mean something else'. So
much so that `Brits never say what they mean; often it is the exact oppo-
site, even and particularly when they are being serious'.
I find this quite troubling. In light of this quote, and if I were to behave
as a Brit, which in all likelihood is what Professor Torremans expects me
to do by sending me the book, I would have to come up with devastat-
ing conclusions along the following lines: `this is one of the worst ALAI
Congresses I have ever attended. If not the ...