Re: [d@DCC] Paintings "disappear" from Tata Gallery

From: Russell McOrmond <russell _-at-_ flora.ca>
To: General Discussion <discuss (at) digital-copyright.ca>
Date: Sun, 11 May 2003 21:26:21 -0400 (EDT)

On Sat, 3 May 2003, Chris Palmer wrote:

> This is a real pathetic story about the impact of copyright:

> "But just hours after it was launched with a fanfare by comedian Michael
> Palin, almost four out of 10 pictures were replaced with a message saying
> they were unavailable for copyright reasons"

  I am curious why it is assumed that this was a bad thing to have these 
digitizations removed.

  My personal copyright fight is not against copyright, but against media
monopolization and removal of creators rights and citizens rights.


  In this case this gallary (an intermediary) was trying to remove a
creators right to determine whether a work was to be moved to a new media,
and under what conditions.  If you believe in copyright at all (and not
everyone in this forum does), then you will see what the gallary did as
being just as wrong as when the recording industry (another intermediary)
wants to lock up communications rights via TPM (harming both creators
rights and citizens rights).

  If a work is to be digitized and displayed, this is a new right that 
should be cleared by the copyright holder just as much as if the gallery 
had tried to make duplicated of the painting in physical form.


  This may require some discussion.  In my mind there is a huge difference
between file conversion of digital media in order to enjoy your existing
rights as a legitimate audience of a work, and claiming that digitizing is
excercising existing display rights rather than an attempt to claim new
rights.

---
 Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <http://www.flora.ca/>
 Any 'hardware assist' for communications, whether it be eye-glasses, 
 VCR's, or personal computers, must be under the control of the citizen 
 and not a third party.   -- http://www.flora.ca/russell/


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