Discussion of all things related to Public Domain

[tom poe <tompoe AT amihost.com>]

OPEN STUDIOS: RUNNING BOARD 

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ENTERTAINMENT NEWS: 
Each month, we'll highlight a few of the previous month's news articles
(hopefully with active links).  Subscribers and supporters are encouragd
to email us with links you found to be interesting.  We'll add them
here.  It's a good way for collecting an archive you can refer to when
you need it as part of your Internet business strategies. 
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http://www.rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?nid=19556
Downloaders Pay Back Wilco 
Site facilitates donations to band's handpicked charity 
from Rolling Stone 
COLIN DEVENISH 
(April 2, 2004) 

" After Tweedy complied, Givony dreamed up a unique way of showing his
gratitude: the just-launched justafan.org, a site set up specifically
for fans who download copies of the new Wilco album and want to show
their appreciation by making a donation to the band-selected charity
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres. In less than a day
online, with nothing more than word-of-mouth publicity, donations
exceeded $1,500." 
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http://makeashorterlink.com/?S43C23608
Tuesday, April 13, 2004 
http://www.online.reuters.com/
Singer Sophie B. Hawkins Wins Claim in Piracy Case 
By Gina Keating 

" LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop star Sophie B. Hawkins found a low-tech
way to join the recording industry's ongoing war against music piracy on
Tuesday, winning a small claims judgment against a man who she says was
selling pirated copies of her album on eBay." 

"The Grammy-nominated artist won a $346 small claims judgment against
the eBay merchant who sold promotional copies of her new CD
"Wilderness," which is not due in record stores until next week." 
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http://news.findlaw.com/ap/e/1403/4-26-2004/20040426094503_06.html
David Bowie Lets Fans Bootleg His Songs 
Monday, April 26, 2004 
"  LONDON (AP) - David Bowie has invited fans to bootleg his music - and
he's offering prizes for the most creative theft." 

"The music software needed for the task can be downloaded from Bowie's
Web site, along with tracks from his new album." 
www.davidbowie.com
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Russian 'legal' music site offers songs for 5¢ 
By Tony Smith 
Published Wednesday 28th April 2004 12:08 GMT 
http://www.theregister.com/2004/04/28/russian_music_service/
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http://tinyurl.com/2wyx2
Laying down the copyright law -- to children 
Film studios back antipiracy course 
By Kathleen Sharp, Globe Correspondent  |  April 25, 2004 
Students learn to repeat the program's motto: ''If you don't pay for it,
you've stolen it." 

''But that's not true," said Wendy Seltzer, a senior attorney for the
Electronic Frontier Foundation. ''That may be what the MPAA would like
the copyright law to be, but that's not what the law says." 

"The ''fair use" doctrine allows the public to use copyrighted material
for educational purposes. One can use another's work to parody, review,
or critique that material. You can even legally swap material, as long
as it's not for commercial gain, said Seltzer. ''People tape movies on
their VCRs and swap it with friends without getting arrested for
piracy," she said." 
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http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,39152667,00.htm
Software stops illegal song trading 
John Borland 
CNET News.com 
April 21, 2004, 15:20 BST 

"It's the kind of thing we hear from universities or customers that act
more as an ISP," said Doug Jacobson, Palisade's founder and chief
technology officer. "They want to take the position of not filtering out
all peer-to-peer [traffic], stopping copyrighted works but not the other
content." 
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Poor Doug Jacobson is woefully snowed by the RIAA, eh?  Little does he
know all works are automatically copyrighted the instant they're
created.  Aahh, what a shame.  Does anyone want to clue this clueless
nincumpoop in? 
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grandchildren?  Nice, eh? 

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This on-going series explores potential business strategies and ideas
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FEATURED ARTISTS: 
http://www.geocities.com/drummerinterviews/upandcoming.html
Introducing the all new "Up and Coming" with Billy Donald 
drummerinterviews AT yahoo.com

Running Board wishes to present Billy Donald, who has agreed to
syndicate his column (rather his interviews) with us.  We hope you will
welcome him with open arms by sending an email to him and visiting his
web site often.  Oh, and don't forget to spread the word to your friends
and family.  Now, on with Billy: 

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COLUMNS: 
A]  Anatoly Volynets - Culture vs. Copyright 
Synopsis of Previous Issues

One of the basic points I stand for is that culture and copyright clash
completely. In previous issues we discussed the nature of arts,
licensing in cultural affairs, arts and personality. 

Culture Beyond Arts

Preamble

When we were discussing nature of arts as the most typical area of
culture it was difficult and it was easy. It was difficult, because the
subject is quite mysterious, and it was easy, because arts are the most 
typical representatives for culture and tell a lot for themselves. How
about other areas of human life and activities? Is there place for
culture to perform there?

As soon as we define culture as realm of creativity and dialogue, we
face culture, whenever we encounter them.

This can happen even in the least creative area: production of some
simple, well known goods. When you produce something, there are some
physical materials you use, time you spend and ideas you implement. The 
ideas could be yours (few of them, built in dialogue with others' ones)
and others' ones (tens of thousands of them collected in the course of
history and set in the simplest product of contemporary industry). Is 
creativity required here?

Well, it became the casual course of action for me to bring a problem to
my first graders.

1. When Do People Create? Attempts to Define the Problem

Teacher. When do people create?

Beta. What do you mean "when?"

Kappa. Sometimes we do, don't we?

Delta. And the question is ,"when"?

Beta. I feel that we need to clarify the question.

Teacher. Looks like.

Gamma. We are not talking about time, it is about some situations,
right?

Teacher. Of course.

Alpha. I know, it is when someone haven't prepared for a test. One
should be ver-r-ry creative!

Teacher. Suppose so. Can you elaborate?

Gamma. Could it be that one has to reinvent some scientific data? Is
that what you mean?

Alpha. If people are not prepared they do guessing, nothing else.

Kappa. But some people do guessing better than others.

Alpha. "Creative guessing!". Hah-hah-hah!

Kappa. Why don't we turn to arts?

Delta. It's too obvious. People do create while doing arts. It's by
definition.

Teacher. Not necessarily.

Delta. I got it. If a painter is just copying a unique work of another
artist, he is not creating, is he?

Teacher. Not necessarily.

Gamma. I watched a movie "The Moderns". There was one very talented
painter and he got a commission to make copies of some Degas' paintings,
because the customer wanted to sneak with the originals away from her 
husband... And she robbed the painter, because she didn't want to pay
him, but she mistook copies instead for originals herself. And the
painter was really proud afterwards that he was able to make such
perfect copies!

Alpha. OK, he was happy. What does it tell us?

Beta. Well, he was talented and he was proud he could do it. It does
tell us something.

Alpha. What?

Delta. I believe not an every single painter can make a precise copy of
a great work. He has to be talented to be up to the job.

Alpha. If someone is talented copier, does this mean he is creating
while copying?

Teacher. Good question!

Beta. I wish I had a good answer.

Kappa. I think it is something like understanding of other people? Don't
you think?

Delta. You mean, to see all of the details on one's painting and
reproduce them?

Beta. Look, what have we got here: if exact reproducing requires
creativity, then not exact reproducing, when you substitute author's
details by yours, is not creativity!

All, but Alpha. Wow!

Gamma. How can it be?

Alpha. Wait-wait, who says it can? Who says that reproducing requires
creativity?

Beta. No one, so far. I said "if."

Gamma. But can it be that a talented work is not a creative one? What is
talent for?

Alpha. How about photography?

Beta. I got something. Look, a photograph reflects something real,
exactly how it is, right?

Gamma. So? There are interesting and telling pictures out there, and
there are many of them fine for a trash can only. How is this possible?

Beta. This is where I was heading. When you make a picture and manage to
get what you wanted and how you wanted it...

Delta. You mean, when you have a goal to catch something or what?..

Alpha. My uncle is a photographer, a very good one, everyone says that.
He says you have to be ready for a quick shot. It is not like you have
to have some goal...

Beta. I understand, you have to be prepared... But this is also a goal,
isn't it?

Alpha. It is different.

Kappa. I agree - Alpha is right... And Beta is right..

Teacher. Don't we have something for the first summary?

Delta. A bunch of questions.

Kappa. It is something. We wanted to clarify our problem, remember?

Teacher. I remember. Would you like to try to do it, Kappa?

Kappa. Ok, but you all help me.

Delta. Count on me.

Beta. I join.

Gamma. I'll do my best.

Teacher. Alpha, do we join?

Alpha. I'm not sure we've got enough material for all helpers... I'll
let you know, if you miss something.

Teacher. It's a deal. Go ahead, Kappa.

Kappa. Ok. We have got so far... First: Could someone be really creative
taking a test he is not prepared for? Does this question stand?

Alpha. Baloney.

Delta. Continue Kappa. You got one.

Beta. Generally, if you do not know something, then it becomes a problem
to solve...

Kappa. Ok. The second question is: could it be creative guessing?

Alpha. But this is the same question!

Delta. I believe, guessing is part of any creation.

Alpha. But this does not make any sense!

Teacher. Alpha, we shall discuss this, but let us do the summary first.

Alpha. We were going to sum up questions, but the first one is obviously
not a question at all, and the second one is the same as the first one.

Beta. I wouldn't be so sure about both. You can never predict what pops
up in a discussion.

Alpha. All right, I keep silent, whatever you say.

Delta. You can't, Alpha. You promised to let us know, if we miss
something.

Alpha. That's enough! You want to discuss me or our subject?

Teacher. Our subject... And I assume, everyone is ready to continue.

Kappa. If someone does not like a question, we can reformulate it,
right?

Teacher. Acceptable.

Kappa. Ok. Do we have the correct question about test taking, or we
better live the general question about guessing only?

Gamma. Why can't we discuss both?

Delta. I agree. We do not know where to go, anyway.

Alpha. Exactly.

Delta. Ok. We do not know, where to go, anyway, thus we need as many
questions as possible.

Alpha. And stay here overnight.

Gamma. It is destructive...

Alpha. What?

Gamma. What are you doing now, is destructive.

Alpha. And to collect a thousand questions to solve a single problem is
constructive...

Gamma. Do you really hope to solve it today?

Alpha. Why do we even start it, if we do not want to solve it?

Beta. Who said, we don't?

Kappa. We had counted three questions so far. The fourth one would be:
whether doing arts is always a creative process?

Alpha. Who questions that?

Teacher. I do.

Alpha. Why?

Teacher. Why don't we finish with the summary first?

Kappa. The fifth one will be: could copying be creative? The sixth one:
if a work is talented, does it mean that creativity was required and
involved?

Teacher. This is an excellent formula.

Kappa. Is copying of a painting like understanding of an idea?

Beta. I have another one: is copying of a creative work the same as
understanding of its author's thought?

Delta. Why the same? How could it be the same?

Gamma. Kappa said "like".

Kappa. Aha. Can we put it this way: is copying generally like
understanding?

Delta. Of course! You never repeat after someone if you do not
understand what was said!

Beta. Yea... and this does not mean that repeating and understanding are
the same...

Gamma. What does this mean?

Beta. I think they are related...

Alpha. Come back guys... You are disrupting accounting process...

Kappa. All right. So the eighth question could sound like: how copying
and understanding relate to each other in general terms?

Teacher. Perfect!

Delta. I got the tenth one: is seeing a creative process?

Gamma. Where did this come from?

Delta. I asked earlier whether a copier is creative because he is seeing
all of the details?

Gamma. I got an example when seeing of all details relate to creativity.
It is investigation.

Beta. Hey, good example. Sherlock Holmes is a creative guy...

Alpha. What does he create?

Delta. A picture of a crime.

Alpha. That one was created by a criminal.

Teacher. The crime, not the picture.

Gamma. Sherlock Holmes does not know the criminal's plan and actions,
thus he has to invent it from scratch and check against evidence, right?
It is a creative process.

Kappa. Hah, look, we got it again: a bad investigator cannot re-create
the picture - how it was in reality - and amends it with invented
details and happens to be less creative at the same time? Wow!

Teacher. Have we picked all of our questions?

Kappa. There were few more... About photography... Does creation relate
to some goal?

Beta. I would ask another one: does seeing something unusual mean being
creative?

Kappa. Seeing again?

Teacher. All right, we got pretty decent list. May I add one last
question: do all creative features of a human activity equally apply to
arts and non-arts? Or better put it this way: do all of our questions
equally apply to arts and non-arts?

Beta. We've been touching this problem all the time.

Kappa. Actually, we got on track many times, but were interrupted.

Alpha. Don't blame me.

Kappa. It was not you... not you only. We interrupted our discussion to
proceed with the list.

Alpha. Aha! Thus goal can be disruptive!

Delta. Maybe there could be different goals?

Alpha. Look, like I said: suppose you go out to make a picture of your
friend, Ok? Then you see a beautiful flower, Ok? And you pass it by,
because you have another goal and you miss...

Beta. I believe that picture you are going to take can be as
beautiful...

Gamma. And that one of the flower can be spoiled as well?

Kappa. Alpha is right, a creator has to be ready...

Beta. Actually, yes, you don't know for sure what happens in the end,
because it wouldn't be creation otherwise.

Gamma. But this equally applies to both pictures! You don't just take it
if you want it nice!

Delta. Thus, there has to be a goal of some sort.

To be continued.

Topics to be covered: Discrepancies between worlds: tangibles and
intangibles, Economics of Culture and others.

Anatoly Volynets, Board member of Open Studios, and President of
Total-knowledge.com, will continue his thoughts next month about the
copyright implications on culture.  You can contact Anatoly at: 
av AT total-knowledge.com
*** 
This article licensed under Authoright: 
http://www.culturedialogue.org/ 
*** 
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COMMONS GALLERY BEST OF THE BEST: 
The Creative Commons Project offers musicians, artists, and authors a
nifty way to meet their legal needs for licensing their works for
distribution across the Internet.  If readers discover interesting
material that sports the Creative Commons tag, let us know, and we'll
link it here.  Attach your photo with your suggested link, to be added
to the gallery.  Let's spread the word! 

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The Digital Age, still in its' infancy, requires the use of electronic
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And, in the arts and sciences, from musicians to artists to authors, the
knowledge that recordings no longer requires an expensive recording
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Licensed as Public Domain with the Creative Commons Project, August 1,
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