Oh, it gets better. Lucas actually makes a lot of sense here. He even emphasizes that FILMS BELONG TO THE PUBLIC ABOVE ALL ELSE, and that the only reason that copyrights exist is to give their owners financial compensation during their lifetimes (after which the works become public domain and not owned by anyone). And he also nails down the point: there is no American law in place to protect them from being distorted, either during copyright term or after its expiration. I wrote a whole article on the legal and ethical side of this in August--I should have just let Lucas write the fucking thing! Brilliant.

"There is nothing to stop American films, records, books, and paintings from being sold to a foreign entity or egotistical gangsters and having them change our cultural heritage to suit their personal taste.

I accuse the companies and groups, who say that American law is sufficient, of misleading the Congress and the People for their own economic self-interest. The law is not sufficient.

I accuse the Motion Picture Association of seeking to save one billion dollars in film piracy, without acknowledging the moral rights of the artists who created these films as required by the Berne Treaty.

I accuse the corporations, who oppose the moral rights of the artist, of being dishonest and insensitive to American cultural heritage and of being interested only in their quarterly bottom line, and not in the long-term interest of the Nation.

The public's interest is ultimately dominant over all other interests. And the proof of that is that even a copyright law only permits the creators and their estate a limited amount of time to enjoy the economic fruits of that work.

There are those who say American law is sufficient. That's an outrage! It's not sufficient! If it were sufficient, why would I be here? Why would John Houston have been so studiously ignored when he protested the colorization of "The Maltese Falcon?" Why are films cut up and butchered?"

Tell 'em, George! Can we get a time machine and bring this guy back here to bitchsmack his future self?