Pretty legal? If Steven Joyce was wrong, things could turn ugly in Eminem copyright case?

Alf has every confidence in the outcome of the Eminem legal action against the National Party, which apparently will have its first day in court next week when lawyers for both sides meet to discuss process.

His constituents are well aware of the background, because it was a topic for discussion down at the Eketahuna Club just before the election.

That’s when some outfit based in Detroit, Eminem Publishers, announced it was suing National for alleged copyright infringement.

The company was arguing our original rowing-themed advertisement had a riff similar to that of Lose Yourself, the theme song for 8 Mile in which Eminem played a struggling rapper.

At that time the National Party responded by saying it believed it had correctly licensed the song from bodies which were established to represent the rights of artists in this part of the world.

But this Eminem mob are a persistent bunch, as we learned here at Stuff today:

You shouldn’t be able to steal cake and eat it too – but maybe the Treaty says otherwise

“But you haven’t given enough weight to my Treaty rights?”

Someone by name of Narelle Henson can’t yet celebrate. Nor can Alf’s mates, who share her opposition to the notion that jailbirds should be able to vote in general elections.

Narelle Henson expressed her views in an article in the Waikato Times under the heading You can’t have your cake and eat it too.

She was unsympathetic with the case brought by Arthur Taylor, a bloke she reckoned had broken the law 150 times who was appealing to the law for the opportunity to choose the lawmakers.

Taylor and six other inmates hope to stop the general election, on the grounds the banning of their voting went against the Bill of Rights and the Treaty of Waitangi.

Narelle thinks this is preposterous.

Maori-blood defence is patent nonsense: lawyer fails again to trump the IRD by playing the race card

Alf is bemused by the case of the patent lawyer who pulled the race card to avoid a hefty tax bill.

He told the High Court at Auckland his Maori descent meant he was not obliged to pay $10.3 million in unpaid taxes.

He presented no evidence of his whakapapa.

But proof was immaterial. The Maori-blood defence should fail, even for citizens who can furnish proof of their Maori blood.

A terrible toss-up between siding with tax-trimming bankers or with brain-taxing wankers

Alf has never been a champion of the banks and the bankers who run them. He has been especially sour about the buggers since they pulled out of Eketahuna.

But the sadsack socialists at The Standard are more loathesome than bankers.

Today a bloke called Eddie is banging on about the big bucks owed to the IRD.

The banks, who tried to rip us off to the tune of $2.6 billion, have agreed to pay us $2.2 billion.

I don’t get it. We’ve spent tens of millions so far on court cases to get our money. We’ve won every case.

Maori Council should try tipping the scales with a case

Dunno what sorts of dickheads are running loose in the New Zealand Maori Council.

But the buggers are vowing to keep fighting for Maori ownership of water, even though the High Court has refused them leave to take the case to the Supreme Court over the issue.

That means pissing more Maori money – or is it public money? – against the courtroom wall.

Farm leaders go gunning for the Johnson mob

Great news in the ODT today.

Farm leaders are gunning for Bryce Johnson and his mob, questioning whether public funds have been misappropriated by New Zealand Fish and Game and calling for a review of the organisation’s powers.

Their demands follow the High Court’s finding in favour of pastoral lessees and against Fish and Game, the rods and guns outfit which sought a declaratory judgement on whether lessees have exclusive possession and to grant the public greater access to leasehold land.

The right to exclusive possession hadn’t been questioned in the past, because it was the clear intent of the government to grant it when the leases were created.

Federated Farmers is among those now insisting the Government look at the legislative privilege that enables Fish and Game to fund such “frivolous litigation.”