Ariana Grande ‘politely’ turns down Damehood

Ariana Grande has reportedly turned down Damehood in honour of the Manchester terror attack victims, according to The Sun.

A source disclosed that the 25-year-old singer told the committee it is ‘too soon’ for her to receive the honour, as she was ‘still grieving’ for those who lost their lives in the shocking attack in Manchester and so were scores of families. She feared some affected might see it as insensitive.

It comes after Ariana was praised for her response to the attack which took place at one of her concerts, holding the One Love Manchester benefit show, which raised millions of pounds for victims’ families.

Due to her US nationality, Ariana would have only been eligible for an honorary Damehood should she have accepted, meaning she would not have been able to introduce herself as a Dame, but could use the initials DBE after her name. The honours are normally conferred by the Queen, on the advice of the foreign secretary.

Such an honour was given to Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie in 2014, for services to UK foreign policy and the campaign to end warzone sexual violence. It is unclear whether Ariana’s honorary Manchester citizenship would have made any change to this rule.

Public Domain Day bonanza

For the first time in digital age, a copyright bonanza is here. From January 1, an unprecedented number of films, books, songs, and artistic works once protected by US copyright, and all from the year 1923, are in the public domain.

Public Domain Day, originated in 2004 by Canadian activist Wallace J. McLean and backed by Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig, is the observance of the moment when authors’ exclusive rights expire.

We haven’t had a day quite like this in decades.

In 1998, Disney and other corporations successfully lobbied the US Congress to add 20 years to usual copyright term. Before the so-called “Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act”, creative works published before January 1, 1978 were entitled to copyright protection for 75 years in the US. Those created after 1978 were to be released in the public domain 50 years after the author passes away.

Now anyone can freely read, cite, or republish Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet, Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room, Agatha Christie’s The Murder on the Links, or any poem from Robert Frost’s Pulitzer Prize-winning compendium New Hampshire. Movie theatres can screen Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments, Charlie Chaplin’s The Pilgrim or Rin Tin Tin’s third film, Where the North Begins.

Theatre companies can perform songs from Noël Coward’s London Calling! or George Gershwin’s Stop Flirting without cost.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 5th, 2019