As Dirdon's mouth pressed into a thin line and he nodded, Jeb flicked a switch. Both men on the screen immediately turned profiles to Jeb and Laurie, seeing each other in their own screens. "Did you have a complaint, sir?" asked Dirdon. "I don't know who the devil you are," shouted the man from Marriage Relations, "but I assume you're one of those pirates cashing in on that copyright swindle. That new law has gone much too far. Copyrighting a work of skill, art, or expression is okay, I suppose, but to extend it to everyday speech, to verbal phrases--" "Now just a minute," said Dirdon briskly. "You buy greeting cards, I suppose, sir?" "So I buy greeting cards, so what?" "What are greeting cards exactly? Just a small square of paper with a few words, a _very_ few words of sentiment on them. Words that any normal person certainly might be able to--" "Any moron can write a better sentiment than those lousy cards express." "But _you_ buy them sometimes?" "Well ... sometimes." "Why?" demanded Dirdon. "Saves me the bother of figuring out what to say, I guess," was the growled answer. "Right. And you _paid_ for these very few moronic phrases, paid good hard credits for them. Now isn't it just as logical to protect owners of a phrase when somebody else uses it verbally?" "But," said the man desperately, "I didn't _want_ to violate the Copyright on Verbal Use. I didn't _know_ that phrase was under Copyright. Who can keep track of them all? Every day, more phrases and expressions are under Copyright as somebody else's property. Why, first thing you know, there'll hardly be any words left to say." * * * * * "That isn't true," objected Dirdon. "Copyright Law on Verbal Use is a great boon to society. Rule 7 for admission to protection requires that the phrase covered be one which may be considered 'shopworn, overused and so artistically traditional that it is a wearisome truism.' That means that verbal mediocrity is heavily penalized, which is right and proper. Why, you ought to be ashamed to use a phrase like 'were made for each other.' It's Monitors like Jeb who make you watch your words and think very carefully before you speak." "Listen, stupid--" "Already," Dirdon plowed on, happily oratorical, "our citizens are being forced to express themselves more richly, with initiative, casting off triteness!" The man from Marriage Relations looked disgusted. "Ah," he said angrily, "why don't you drop dead." Bong! * * * * * The man moaned as the Monitex Jeb held glowed red with another violation. Jeb grinned and pressed the loudspeaker button. "Mz-R-14," droned the voice. "At half-past eight, Monitex 27965 of Freelance Monitor Jeb picked a violation of...." The man covered his ears. After a few moments, he took his hands away and looked numbly from the screen as Dirdon smirked. "What's the Copyright fee on that one?" he asked.