wellREDman
20th November 2002, 02:54 PM
not sure this really belongs in "legal issues" but there isnt a "moral issues" section and x said he wanted all the replies to the original content thread in here so here goes...
first a disclaimer ...
all views stated in this post are solely (although not entirely original <nods to proudhon et al>) the views of the individual entity known as wellREDman and in no way include or reflect on vjcentral, vjforums, APTvisuals, GreenPeace or any other organisation wellREDman belongs to or is asscociated with...
the following is an updated post from eyecandy on 16/12/01 on this issue
I lurked a while on this issue before inputing my two groats worth because I am a confirmed video bandit and am therefore expecting a lot of flack for my views.
as an anarchist I reject all laws pertaining to copywright and choose to follow my own moral feelings in each particular case:
broadly,whilst I feel free to use anything I find in broadcast media,
I will not knowingly play out the work of another visual(performance) artist without their express consent
I will not play out the work of any performance artist without namechecking them at the end in the credits I always end with.
I will only use Hollywood movies in circumstances that are appropriate ie I will only play my 2001 set if the DJ plays a tune with Holst samples.
I will always inform curious punters where the documentary samples I use come from.
Now that I have alienated half of the group I would like to share a few thoughts I have on the subject...
1.Once an artistic endeavour has been released into the public domain it becomes what a sociobiologist calls a meme, which is kinda like a unit of cultural evolution. a meme can be many things,words, songs,inventions,techniques,images, patterns catchphrases and even swear words.a few good examples are
crop rotation,
That photo of Che Guevara
drinking boiled(sterilised?) water with flavourings in
like a gene, the stongest, most useful and most dominant fill their niche very quickly and like a gene get passed from generation to generation being mutated as it goes. And most importantly, the main factor in their success is their suitability for their environment, which means there is little one can do to control it's spread if it is successful or prolong it's existence if weak.
This translates to VJ's and content producers(and indeed all artist) as "IF YOU DO GOOD WORK IT WILL SPREAD", and theres nothing you can do about it.... There will always be newbie performers groping towards artistic self sufficiency who will get a break before they have enough equipment/material to fill a whole nights visuals at a free party(which is what i would guess is most of our first VJ experiences)
2.Imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery,even the aforementioned newbie will only play stuff that he likes or thinks the crowd will like.
3.(to borrow a meme from the capitalists) All publicity is good publicity
4.the use of existing memes as archetypes, stereotypes and cliches is an important part of communication, as it is tapping into a pre-existing lexicon of association and has always been an integral part of artistic expression.For example the reaction to an image of a gorilla will have different instinctual reactions depending on whether it is the iconic version of King Kong, Diane Fossie's Troop or Jamie Hewletts Cartoon and as an artist from the same meme pool(culture) as my audience I can be reasonably sure of broadly predicting those reactions based on my own and therefore work with them as a deeper mode of communication.
5. all artists to justify the title must first follow their muse rather than the laws of the local money men. It is generally the outsiders who kick against the traces who history comes to regard as great. if all artists chose to stay within their local legal boundraries we would have no bowie/nirvana/Sex Pistols to use some examples from my heritage , and im sure anyone who paid more attention than me in art history class can fill in equivalents from the art world. There is a fundamental hypocrisy in lauding the writer in a third world country who is imprisoned for following his creative urges yet deploring a media pirate in the west for doing essentially the same thing.
the whole copyright/sampling/mp3 issue is ultimately futile as information, once provided with the means to replicate itself will do so, and any attempts to control this thru legislation will have as much chance of prevailing as a law to prevent you from whistling the tune you heard on the radio. And ultimately i think this is a good thing for art because although a few creatives may starve in the transition period hopefully it will result in the ca$h incentive being removed from the creative feilds leaving just those who create from the heart, and those who just wanna make a buck will look elsewhere to fulfil their mammon lust.
all laws are local and arbitrary and therefore in a global,moral sense meaningless. culture cannot advance until everyone grows up and stops following the dictates of their local men in blue uniforms and decides to volountarily choose their own set of moral guidelines to live by
Just my two arbitrary units of exchange worth
P.s. a word of warning to other video bandits, try and be as aware of the context of your sources as possible, I just had a nasty experience with what I thought was a nice colorised old B&W segment of children playing, only to find out it was Gypsy kids in a Nazi sterilisation camp...
P.P.S. the example stated on eyecandy which initially triggered this manifesto was whether a Tribe Called Quest should owe money to Lou Reed for the sampled bassline on "can i kick it?" this is a really good example of how fucked up the system is because although those two are the contenders for the dosh, there was no chance of any of it ever going to Herbie Flowers, yet he was the session bass player who actually came up with the idea of the simultaneous ascending and descending basslines in the same key.
first a disclaimer ...
all views stated in this post are solely (although not entirely original <nods to proudhon et al>) the views of the individual entity known as wellREDman and in no way include or reflect on vjcentral, vjforums, APTvisuals, GreenPeace or any other organisation wellREDman belongs to or is asscociated with...
the following is an updated post from eyecandy on 16/12/01 on this issue
I lurked a while on this issue before inputing my two groats worth because I am a confirmed video bandit and am therefore expecting a lot of flack for my views.
as an anarchist I reject all laws pertaining to copywright and choose to follow my own moral feelings in each particular case:
broadly,whilst I feel free to use anything I find in broadcast media,
I will not knowingly play out the work of another visual(performance) artist without their express consent
I will not play out the work of any performance artist without namechecking them at the end in the credits I always end with.
I will only use Hollywood movies in circumstances that are appropriate ie I will only play my 2001 set if the DJ plays a tune with Holst samples.
I will always inform curious punters where the documentary samples I use come from.
Now that I have alienated half of the group I would like to share a few thoughts I have on the subject...
1.Once an artistic endeavour has been released into the public domain it becomes what a sociobiologist calls a meme, which is kinda like a unit of cultural evolution. a meme can be many things,words, songs,inventions,techniques,images, patterns catchphrases and even swear words.a few good examples are
crop rotation,
That photo of Che Guevara
drinking boiled(sterilised?) water with flavourings in
like a gene, the stongest, most useful and most dominant fill their niche very quickly and like a gene get passed from generation to generation being mutated as it goes. And most importantly, the main factor in their success is their suitability for their environment, which means there is little one can do to control it's spread if it is successful or prolong it's existence if weak.
This translates to VJ's and content producers(and indeed all artist) as "IF YOU DO GOOD WORK IT WILL SPREAD", and theres nothing you can do about it.... There will always be newbie performers groping towards artistic self sufficiency who will get a break before they have enough equipment/material to fill a whole nights visuals at a free party(which is what i would guess is most of our first VJ experiences)
2.Imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery,even the aforementioned newbie will only play stuff that he likes or thinks the crowd will like.
3.(to borrow a meme from the capitalists) All publicity is good publicity
4.the use of existing memes as archetypes, stereotypes and cliches is an important part of communication, as it is tapping into a pre-existing lexicon of association and has always been an integral part of artistic expression.For example the reaction to an image of a gorilla will have different instinctual reactions depending on whether it is the iconic version of King Kong, Diane Fossie's Troop or Jamie Hewletts Cartoon and as an artist from the same meme pool(culture) as my audience I can be reasonably sure of broadly predicting those reactions based on my own and therefore work with them as a deeper mode of communication.
5. all artists to justify the title must first follow their muse rather than the laws of the local money men. It is generally the outsiders who kick against the traces who history comes to regard as great. if all artists chose to stay within their local legal boundraries we would have no bowie/nirvana/Sex Pistols to use some examples from my heritage , and im sure anyone who paid more attention than me in art history class can fill in equivalents from the art world. There is a fundamental hypocrisy in lauding the writer in a third world country who is imprisoned for following his creative urges yet deploring a media pirate in the west for doing essentially the same thing.
the whole copyright/sampling/mp3 issue is ultimately futile as information, once provided with the means to replicate itself will do so, and any attempts to control this thru legislation will have as much chance of prevailing as a law to prevent you from whistling the tune you heard on the radio. And ultimately i think this is a good thing for art because although a few creatives may starve in the transition period hopefully it will result in the ca$h incentive being removed from the creative feilds leaving just those who create from the heart, and those who just wanna make a buck will look elsewhere to fulfil their mammon lust.
all laws are local and arbitrary and therefore in a global,moral sense meaningless. culture cannot advance until everyone grows up and stops following the dictates of their local men in blue uniforms and decides to volountarily choose their own set of moral guidelines to live by
Just my two arbitrary units of exchange worth
P.s. a word of warning to other video bandits, try and be as aware of the context of your sources as possible, I just had a nasty experience with what I thought was a nice colorised old B&W segment of children playing, only to find out it was Gypsy kids in a Nazi sterilisation camp...
P.P.S. the example stated on eyecandy which initially triggered this manifesto was whether a Tribe Called Quest should owe money to Lou Reed for the sampled bassline on "can i kick it?" this is a really good example of how fucked up the system is because although those two are the contenders for the dosh, there was no chance of any of it ever going to Herbie Flowers, yet he was the session bass player who actually came up with the idea of the simultaneous ascending and descending basslines in the same key.