Freedom of Expression
I read this book online, you can just download it off Kembrew's website, it's under a CC license. It's almost as easy as reading a regular book, except you have to scroll each page if you want it big enough to read on your laptop.
Like Bollier, who founded Public Knowledge, and whose book, Brand Name Bullies, I recently posted about (link at right), and almost all the writers on this subject, McLeod spends lots of time discussing lawsuits. It's gonna be a long time before we can get out from under the legacy of having so many copyrights in the hands of so few. It's to the point now where I feel the only solution is to shorten the length of copyright to some 20 years and put some retroactive features in there to expedite the process, otherwise we're gonna be bogged down by a body of intellectual property law that's gonna make traditional property law, including the Rule Against Perpetuities (which is exactly what we're getting here), look like a walk in the park.
McLeod discusses how these problems play out in the biotech sector and hip hop community. I learned as a DJ that knowing your music and being able to piece it together to make the sum greater than the whole and put a creative message out there is an art form unto itself. As a radio DJ you're essentially being paid to do that, if you take the challenge even higher and become even more creative, and do it as mashup, then you get prosecuted for it. Kembrew goes through the whole culture of it, how long of a sample you can take ( under 4 sec.), how much money you can make ($15K) before the labels will come after you and put you out. What haunts the hip hop community plagues all artists who build on previous works, from collage to documentaries.
Some of these numbers, man, Kanye was paying some $150K for samples he used in College Dropout. We have a huge economy here which has absolutely no fucking benefit to society whatsoever, only detriment. This is not a bunch of disparate events, this is a organized abuse of the legal system. This is every bit as big an issue as campaign reform and the change needs to happen at the legislative level. The current climate is going to make that extremely difficult and if SC buckles this spring, we're going to start going backwards, not only in terms of our culture, which is already happening, but tech. If we slow down the tech engine, we're really in trouble, because China is out there & they don't give a fuck about our copyrights.
Kembrew points out the irony that the labels hastened their own demise by trying to convert the public from vinyl to CD, in order to make money. People were naturally reluctant to buy their whole music library over again, but, they had to. The labels stopped accepting returns for records. What had been a typical practice of sampling music by buying a record and then returning it, came to a close, so people had to move to digital. The way Kembrew put it was like hey, go out there without a condom, don't come crying to me. Those boys, through their greed, and stupidity, opened the Pandora's box themselves.
The book also explores this idea of the gift economy, the free sample, and gives many examples showing what art and music is supposed to be about. How it's about expression and sharing your message in a creative, warm, communal way. To me, the apotheosis of this concept is the Grateful Dead community. I wouldn't even know where to begin, trying to express what that has meant to me in my life. I never labeled myself a Deadhead, I never made following them a way of life, but I knew many who did. It was a true community of the most loving, amazing people you could ever meet.
When I would be at a Dead show... the feeling was completely different from any other environment. I knew I could ask anyone around me for any type of help and they would give it, they would welcome me warmly, not knowing me... and not in the way of being at some Billy Graham crusade or something. I would often wear, purposely, very un-Dead looking garb, it didn't matter, there was absolutely no sense of evangelism, just sharing. We always hated the labels, even then, but, we had to live with them for some things, get some disks pressed. But, that was a small function, it wasn't about the records, we had all the tapes we ever needed. It was about the community and this book expresses some of what it means to be an artist and what it means to be a fan and love your artist, feel connected to them and their message. The give and take, and trust, of that experience. When that relationship exists, you don't have this sense from these pampered millionaire/"artists" that they feel exploited, you don't have fans feeling like thieves.
By inserting this useless, parasitic layer, between our artists and their fans, we are depriving ourselves of a wonderful experience that nurtured me personally and artistically for a lifetime. Most bands do not show the kind of example of generosity of spirit the Dead did, they gave free concerts, allowed unlimited taping at concerts, just out of love for their fans. Jerry deeply loved his fans, they all did, and they showed that in every way. When I showed up at their suite with a friend, they welcomed me warmly, invited me to party, even sleep over.
Of course, they were probably the biggest earner of all time. They were #1 on Fortune's biggest earners in entertainment (including movies etc.) year after year. This is no coincidence. They earned more money off their hippie fans than Britney will ever be able to skim off Daddy's wallets. The Dead never felt any less than Grateful. They felt blessed by the adoration of their fans and their deep appreciation of the music. I danced in front of Jerry many times and felt a sense of connection and mutual appreciation. There was no phoniness, there are no bad Jerry stories out there... no little boys on Jesus juice.
What the Dead did, many bands have done, very successfully, and the internet will make it possible for many bands to grow the same way. Grow your business the Mom & Pop way, through pleasing your customers, not this pseudo VC model.
Anyway, I think it's important to show the positive example here, not just list one horrid abuse of the legal system after another. We could have so much more. I think about all these Britney dominions. What kind of community is that? What's her message? When we have groups like U2 who posture themselves as socially aware yet who let their labels intimidate artists without even making a stink about it. I mean, supposedly, the Edge made some lame comment about trying to talk to their label...what the fuck is that? "Yeah, I know you're right, I'm an artist too, but the label is what's in control here"... when you're a band with the fan-given stature of a U2??? Come on.
Speaking of Negativland, (link at right), the book also highlights some of the artists who are trying to bring these issues to light in creative, provocative, aesthetic ways. I found this very inspiring and I'm sure to be blogging further on the subject, starting with the following:
The kicker of the book is that McLeod was actually able to trademark the phrase "Freedom of Expression", at least for certain uses. It's cute how he actually uses the mark throughout the book. However, if you need to use the phrase... I doubt Kembrew will prosecute. He did sue his best friend, who posed as an infringer. He hired a lawyer, who drafted a cease & desist & the story was covered by a local paper, who later refused him permission to use the story as part of the artistic statement he made. His activity was listed as a piece of illegal art on the site of the same name (see link at right).
Like Bollier, who founded Public Knowledge, and whose book, Brand Name Bullies, I recently posted about (link at right), and almost all the writers on this subject, McLeod spends lots of time discussing lawsuits. It's gonna be a long time before we can get out from under the legacy of having so many copyrights in the hands of so few. It's to the point now where I feel the only solution is to shorten the length of copyright to some 20 years and put some retroactive features in there to expedite the process, otherwise we're gonna be bogged down by a body of intellectual property law that's gonna make traditional property law, including the Rule Against Perpetuities (which is exactly what we're getting here), look like a walk in the park.
McLeod discusses how these problems play out in the biotech sector and hip hop community. I learned as a DJ that knowing your music and being able to piece it together to make the sum greater than the whole and put a creative message out there is an art form unto itself. As a radio DJ you're essentially being paid to do that, if you take the challenge even higher and become even more creative, and do it as mashup, then you get prosecuted for it. Kembrew goes through the whole culture of it, how long of a sample you can take ( under 4 sec.), how much money you can make ($15K) before the labels will come after you and put you out. What haunts the hip hop community plagues all artists who build on previous works, from collage to documentaries.
Some of these numbers, man, Kanye was paying some $150K for samples he used in College Dropout. We have a huge economy here which has absolutely no fucking benefit to society whatsoever, only detriment. This is not a bunch of disparate events, this is a organized abuse of the legal system. This is every bit as big an issue as campaign reform and the change needs to happen at the legislative level. The current climate is going to make that extremely difficult and if SC buckles this spring, we're going to start going backwards, not only in terms of our culture, which is already happening, but tech. If we slow down the tech engine, we're really in trouble, because China is out there & they don't give a fuck about our copyrights.
Kembrew points out the irony that the labels hastened their own demise by trying to convert the public from vinyl to CD, in order to make money. People were naturally reluctant to buy their whole music library over again, but, they had to. The labels stopped accepting returns for records. What had been a typical practice of sampling music by buying a record and then returning it, came to a close, so people had to move to digital. The way Kembrew put it was like hey, go out there without a condom, don't come crying to me. Those boys, through their greed, and stupidity, opened the Pandora's box themselves.
The book also explores this idea of the gift economy, the free sample, and gives many examples showing what art and music is supposed to be about. How it's about expression and sharing your message in a creative, warm, communal way. To me, the apotheosis of this concept is the Grateful Dead community. I wouldn't even know where to begin, trying to express what that has meant to me in my life. I never labeled myself a Deadhead, I never made following them a way of life, but I knew many who did. It was a true community of the most loving, amazing people you could ever meet.
When I would be at a Dead show... the feeling was completely different from any other environment. I knew I could ask anyone around me for any type of help and they would give it, they would welcome me warmly, not knowing me... and not in the way of being at some Billy Graham crusade or something. I would often wear, purposely, very un-Dead looking garb, it didn't matter, there was absolutely no sense of evangelism, just sharing. We always hated the labels, even then, but, we had to live with them for some things, get some disks pressed. But, that was a small function, it wasn't about the records, we had all the tapes we ever needed. It was about the community and this book expresses some of what it means to be an artist and what it means to be a fan and love your artist, feel connected to them and their message. The give and take, and trust, of that experience. When that relationship exists, you don't have this sense from these pampered millionaire/"artists" that they feel exploited, you don't have fans feeling like thieves.
By inserting this useless, parasitic layer, between our artists and their fans, we are depriving ourselves of a wonderful experience that nurtured me personally and artistically for a lifetime. Most bands do not show the kind of example of generosity of spirit the Dead did, they gave free concerts, allowed unlimited taping at concerts, just out of love for their fans. Jerry deeply loved his fans, they all did, and they showed that in every way. When I showed up at their suite with a friend, they welcomed me warmly, invited me to party, even sleep over.
Of course, they were probably the biggest earner of all time. They were #1 on Fortune's biggest earners in entertainment (including movies etc.) year after year. This is no coincidence. They earned more money off their hippie fans than Britney will ever be able to skim off Daddy's wallets. The Dead never felt any less than Grateful. They felt blessed by the adoration of their fans and their deep appreciation of the music. I danced in front of Jerry many times and felt a sense of connection and mutual appreciation. There was no phoniness, there are no bad Jerry stories out there... no little boys on Jesus juice.
What the Dead did, many bands have done, very successfully, and the internet will make it possible for many bands to grow the same way. Grow your business the Mom & Pop way, through pleasing your customers, not this pseudo VC model.
Anyway, I think it's important to show the positive example here, not just list one horrid abuse of the legal system after another. We could have so much more. I think about all these Britney dominions. What kind of community is that? What's her message? When we have groups like U2 who posture themselves as socially aware yet who let their labels intimidate artists without even making a stink about it. I mean, supposedly, the Edge made some lame comment about trying to talk to their label...what the fuck is that? "Yeah, I know you're right, I'm an artist too, but the label is what's in control here"... when you're a band with the fan-given stature of a U2??? Come on.
Speaking of Negativland, (link at right), the book also highlights some of the artists who are trying to bring these issues to light in creative, provocative, aesthetic ways. I found this very inspiring and I'm sure to be blogging further on the subject, starting with the following:
The kicker of the book is that McLeod was actually able to trademark the phrase "Freedom of Expression", at least for certain uses. It's cute how he actually uses the mark throughout the book. However, if you need to use the phrase... I doubt Kembrew will prosecute. He did sue his best friend, who posed as an infringer. He hired a lawyer, who drafted a cease & desist & the story was covered by a local paper, who later refused him permission to use the story as part of the artistic statement he made. His activity was listed as a piece of illegal art on the site of the same name (see link at right).
posted by Intervision at 8:45 AM
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