As President and Chairman of the Board of ASCAP, Oscar®- and Grammy®-winning songwriter Paul Williams has taken to criticizing those who support interpretations or models of artistic control other than those promoted by his organization.

In June, Williams lashed out at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and Creative Commons with a mistake-filled broadside whose accusations were quickly debunked.

At the time, Lawrence Lessig (Harvard law professor, founding board member of CC, and former board member of EFF) invited Williams to discuss the issues in a public debate. A month later, Williams has declined the invitation with a truly incredible response. Among the highlights, is Williams’ close:

What I find most fascinating is that those who purport to support a climate of free culture work so hard to silence opposing points of view. They will not silence me.

Paul Williams apparently lives in a parallel universe in which an invitation to debate, in public, is a clandestine effort to silence. At least his royalty checks for “You and Me Against the World” still seem to be finding him.