A premature epitaph for Wendy Cope
 

I came across an article by Wendy Cope from several years ago. The full article is at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007...ardianreview14

Here are a few self-explanatory extracts:

One summer's day, strolling through a cemetery, my partner and I had a conversation about what we would like on our gravestones. He suggested that mine should read: "Wendy Cope. All Rights Reserved." He knows all too well that I am obsessed with copyright ... My poems are all over the internet ... I'm sure that this must affect sales of my books.

I absolutely agree with her about copyright violation, but I thought that we might be able to improve the suggested epitaph.

Here lies one Wendy Cope. All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized duplication is forbidden.
The spot is most poetically turved -
OK, the word just came to me unbidden -
Her body rests in peace, but I’ve observed
Her works are splashed across the World-Wide Midden.

Now, I’m not one to bully or to hector,
But fair is fair for poems, songs or lieder,
And cop(e)yright should still, though late, protect her
From every body-snatching little bleeder;
For poetry is sweet, but cash is nectar,
So pay up, matey, if you want to read her.

It's what she should have wanted, Brian. Splendid.

Brian,

This is a great epitaph. Let's hope that decades pass before it becomes operational.

By the way, you ought to copyright your phrase "World-Wide Midden". That's the best description of the Internet culture that I've encountered.

I have bought all of Wendy Cope's books so I'm not one of the guilty ones she refers to, but I'd like to put forward an alternative viewpoint here:

She says that when people tell her, "I liked your poem so much that I sent copies of it to all my friends", "I'm supposed to be pleased."

I would be pleased if someone told me that, and to hell with the copyright! It's a delightful compliment. Last year Mary (McLean) and I went to see an outside performance in Cambridge and Wendy didn't engage with her audience at all, or even thank them for coming along, nor could she use a microphone to save her life. I chatted with her at an Oldie lunch once and she was quite grumpy. My daughter was with me and was really shocked.

I love Wendy's work but I'm afraid all I see on a personal front is one of those Grumpy Old Women. She could do with lightening up to match her light verse! Being a poet is not just about selling books and making money. Years ago, long before the Internet was what it is now, one of my poems was "ripped off" but hey! people liked it enough to stick it up on their noticeboards at work - probably not with my name on, in many cases, but so what?

Like I said, just another way of looking at this...

Jayne

Hear, hear! Brian, A feisty epitaph in style. (Will you be sending her it?)

Personally, I've grown accustomed to adding (c) to any original verse or prose I post on the Internet, even doggerel ditties... just in case.
I live in hope!

Being paid is nice. It sanctifies your work, as it were. Money is wonderfully purifying stuff. And it is REMARKABLE how employers will do their best to screw it out of you. God save the Trade Unions though I've never been in one.

I grow grumpier by the day. Not with YOU of course, Jayne. And Wendy's background, like the sainted Margaret's, is in trade. My grandmother kept a hatshop and my grandfather an ironmonger's. Both failed. I am glad to see both my daughters live off the state (NHS and education). It is by far the safest way. So long as you have a union.

Mind you, a poets'union would be a laugh. Most of us can barely count to ten.

Verses for the Blessed Wendy

Your poetry is funny.
It speaks of Love and Money.
Love comes from the heart
And sanctifies our art.
Money comes from banks.
Give thanks. Give thanks.

On the subject of epitaphs, a friend of mine at university came up with the following for himself:

Emotional, social, sexual cripple;
In the ocean of life, not even a ripple.

Charming, is it not?

Putting a (c) on it ain't worth a diddly squat in a legal sense,.

I'd posted my favorite Wendy Cope poem in the Alsop Gazebo "Third Party" forum about the time that Guardian piece came out. I wasn't aware of the article when I posted the poem, but was made aware of it quickly in the comment thread. I felt bad, briefly.

Wendy Cope has made it finally to that sacred shore.
Who got most of the orange doesn't matter any more.

I'm afraid that Janice is quite right, Graham. Putting a (c) on does not mean anything in itself. Copyright theoretically exists automatically as soon as a work is created, but you need to be able to a) prove that it is your work and b) that it was created on a particular date if you are going to challenge anyone for unauthorised use. Various websites exist that you can upload your work onto for this purpose, but naturally they charge a fee for you to do so. I wouldn't bother.

Hic Jacet Wendy Cope

Abandon hope
all ye who'd copy Wendy Cope.
It's not as easy as it looks
to sell so many poetry books.

RIP-off

I lie here in a pauper's grave
Because the World Wide Web that gave
So much to many pillories
A poet's hard-earned royalties.

I don't think Wendy, bless her, will lie in a pauper's grave.

Quite-so, John; how about this -


RIP-off

I lie here in a lesser grave
Because the World Wide Web that gave
So much to many pillories
A poet's hard-earned royalties.


- then?

Perhaps some Spherians are unfamiliar with Wendy Cope and her oeuvre and wouldn't appreciate why she feels so proprietorial. I propose that we start another thread reproducing some of her better poems (or perhaps even all of them?) so that we can see for ourselves and make an informed judgement.

If they are unfamiliar with Wendy Cope's work then they shouldn't be Spherians. And if anybody reproduces her work without her say-so then that body will be truly sorry. Nobody mixes it with Wendy I do assure you.

Joke, John!

I didn't find her grumpy at all. When I wanted to include three of her poems in an anthology, I wrote to explain the size of the operation and the unlikelihood that it would make any money. I offered a share in the event that the book did earn money (it never did) and may have offered a token upfront payment in addition; if so, it wasn't much. Ms. Cope graciously accepted the offer, support without which the book would have been much poorer.

Saint Wendy is of course merely trying to earn a living. We do not consider musicians or filmmakers to be 'grumpy' if they protest about their hard work being pirated and their audience no longer wanting or needing to buy cinema tickets, DVDs or CDs. The analogy, I would venture, is exact. By their very nature poems are the easiest art form of all to rip off, and for that reason there's probably not much that Wendy (or any of the rest of us) can really do, but I think she's perfectly entitled not to like it and to say so.

It's interesting to note, don't you think, that other poets' work is reproduced here on D & A every time the results of competitions are announced, and always without their permission. Sometimes we're less than complimentary about it, too (I know I have been). We seem to think that's all right. Perhaps it isn't? Discuss.

When I mentioned that Wendy was a bit grumpy it had nothing whatsoever to do with her work being reproduced without her permission.
It's just that on two separate occasions she was, shall we say, not as gracious as she might have been. It could have been for any number of reasons, I suppose! Pam Ayres is always, always gracious to her fans though.
Just sayin'.

I've purchased her books and contributed to her fame and sales by word of mouth precisely because people violated her copyright every now and then and posted her poems online. Cope seems to be operating under the premise that if someone reads one or two of her poems for free, they will never buy her books. She needs to work on her self-confidence, I think.

I don't think the cases are analagous, Rob. We reproduce what is already in The Speccie and the like. The Speccie itself might grouse but it does not because we provide a rich crop of winners.

Sorry I missed your joke. Wendy was once gracious enough to say I was not a TUMP (a Totally Useless Male Poet) because I could drive a car, though my insurers might question that. After that I felt a warm glow. I might say I also stand my round, but she didn't know that.

How are your sums, John? I think this is the clincher for TUMPhood!