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[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

Stay Free! is delighted to report that one of the artists from our 
Illegal Art Exhibit, Tom Forsythe, has won a major victory in his 
case against Mattel.

Mattel, you may recall, sued Forsythe over his "Food Chain Barbie" 
photographs (see 
http://www.illegal-art.org/print/popups/forsythe.html); Forsythe won 
in the federal district court, then again on appeal in the circuit 
court.

Now the district court has gone the extra mile. Calling Mattel's case 
"objectively unreasonable" and "frivolous," the court has ruled that 
Mattel must pay Forsythe's team $2.1 million to cover legal fees and 
court costs!

Major congrats to Tom and his (until now) pro-bono lawyers... but 
perhaps the real winners are the rest of us. This case sets a 
precedent, and, with luck, it'll discourage corporations from using 
copyright law to bring frivolous cases against artists.

Mattel, Inc. v. Walking Mountain Productions decision:
http://www.illegal-art.org/print/forsythe.pdf


:::

In other Illegal Art Exhibit news, here's a nice write-up about 
"Wizard People" by Daniel Radosh:

"Harry Potter: The digital remix"
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2004/06/22/harry
How one artist turned a kids movie into a poetic masterpiece J.K. 
Rowling never could've imagined.

::::

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

From the New York Times:
"E.P.A. Energy-Saving Spots Give Cars Short Shrift:
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/public/nytimes_epa_psas.html

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- the agency responsible 
for increasing the fuel efficiency of cars -- has produced a series 
of commercials that MOCKS attempts to increase the fuel efficiency of 
cars. Apparently, spots feature an overweight, nerdy man devising 
silly, quixotic schemes (think: sails and a helium tank) to save gas 
with his vehicle. His wife, by contrast, is the voice of reason: "The 
E.P.A. says the energy we use in our home can cause twice the 
greenhouse gases of a car," she says. The responsible consumer, she 
suggests, needn't worry about cars; she simply needs to buy 
energy-saving household products!

Nevermind that the commercials suggest that the solution to earth's 
energy crisis is for people to buy more new stuff -- that the onus 
rests on the consumer rather than government agencies or auto 
manufacturers. In the tradition of public service announcements, 
that's a given. What really gets my goat is the portrayal of plans to 
cut fuel use as ludicrous when they are, in fact, quite mundane.  By 
carpooling, using public transportation, or walking to the store 
instead of getting in the damn car to go a few blocks people could 
cut their fuel usage by half. As an analyst at the Union of Concerned 
Scientists points out in the NYT article, "You're not likely to cut 
your electricity use in half by using more efficient appliances." 
People who really want to buy something could buy a hybrid car -- 
that'll also cut fuel use in half.

That said, it wouldn't be all that difficult to convert the spots 
into something that seriously promotes energy conservation -- if only 
they'd show people driving their cars off cliffs... or perhaps 
throwing them in the ocean (after all, they do it with subway 
trains)...or just blowing them up. Sure, there'd probably be some 
environmental damage but certainly no worse than daily car use...and 
at least they'd save fuel!

::::

"Pressed to Raise Test Scores, Principals are Resorting to New 
Gross-Out Stunts"
From the WALL STREET JOURNAL
http://www.stayfreemagazine.org/public/wsj_worms.html
After reading this, I'm not sure who we should be more worried about: 
the kids who get ideas from watching reality TV or their teachers. 
According to the WSJ, public school educators across the country -- 
terrified of losing  funding -- are offering to humiliate themselves 
in front of their schools if enough students raise test scores. 
School officials are eating worms, kissing pigs, even letting 
children shave them with dog shears. Maybe the Bush administration 
should change the name of its high-stakes testing plan from "No Child 
Left Behind" to "Fear Factor" - ?

that's all for now,
carrie