Frankly, My Dear, I Do Give a Damn

If Alice Randall wishes to “answer” Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind,” she should turn her May 2 commentary (“The Wind Done Gone’--From the Scars to a Heart”) into a book of essays addressing the very issues she raises. Under the 1st Amendment, she has every right to do so, and I would be first in line to buy a copy.

However, under U.S. copyright law, she does not have the right to build a work based on characters, scenes and dialogue from Mitchell’s novel. Interestingly, the bottom-line issue of copyright seems to be lost amid the cries of “free speech” and “censorship” from Randall’s form-letter supporters.

I have been following this case with great interest and, frankly, my dear, Randall’s woe-is-me mantra is wearing thin. The rest of us have to abide by copyright law and create our words and ideas ourselves; for us, free speech has a hefty price tag involving hard work and creativity. Why does Randall deserve a free ride?

John Wiley Jr.

Richmond, Va.

I don’t know much about the finer points of copyright law, but I do know this: I never had the slightest interest in reading “Scarlett,” but I look forward to reading “The Wind Done Gone.” If the Margaret Mitchell estate’s current plantation owners had either brains or literary taste, they would encourage the publication of “The Wind Done Gone” and release it in a boxed set with the original, so people can compare the two. That’s a “win-win” idea, but then, so was freeing the slaves.

Miguel Munoz

Los Angeles