martha's blog

Recently I have been receiving e-mails from my friends at Creative Commons.  Apparently ASCAP in the US has written a fundraising letter to supporters that misstate the mission of Creative Commons.  This is unfortunately all too common in an environment where copyright is presented as a war between factions (left and right, right and wrong).  In response to this letter Lawrence Lessig said:

I am deeply disappointed by the responses and discussion around Bill C-32.  It is a reminder of just how little is understood about copyright across both the cultural and political sectors.

Here is the proposed Act The federal government website has been created  here.  The Canadian Conference for the Arts has posted here.  We are trying to organize a forum with the Vancouver community - creators and beyond.  get in touch if you are interested. 

As we ready for a new Copyright Act let us not forget that this is not a war.   My students at Emily Carr  found the framing of copyright as a war polarizing and unproductive in RiP: A Remix Manifesto.  RiP while interesting as a story, is one with which I have many disagreements.  In particular I have taken issue with the representations of "remix" culture as a war.  Most of my students, like many emerging creators, want to have a conversation that does not set them up as either o