So I blacked out the blarg to support the total eradication of SOPA and PiPA (though I could totally go for some sopa, since it is so cold outside- that's a spanish joke). The thing is, I have been an artist for a very long time, and in that time, I have both had my art stolen, and been accused of stealing art. Every time my art was stolen, I used the laws ALREADY in place to get the work taken down, and every time I was accused of stealing art, it was because the person accusing me was an asshole.
For example, a gentleman posted a lovely nude photo of himself in a community I belonged to and I said, "My, that is lovely, may I paint it?" and he said
"Oh yes, I would love to be painted!"
And then I painted his lovely nude picture (digitally, because I paint digitally), and when I showed it to him, he said, "WELL, IF I KNEW YOU WERE JUST GOING TO PUT A FILTER ON IT I WOULDN'T HAVE LET YOU USE MY IMAGE!!!!!" presumably because he thought having an altered photo of him in the world altered his soul or something, though my painting was indeed a painting and not just some filtered image.
And so I replied, "I'm sorry, if I had known that you expected me to be unable to paint convincingly and realistically, I wouldn't have bothered taking time to paint your ass (literally) for free." and then I took it down, and then I told the internet about it 8 years later, because that guy was a douche.
There was also the craptacular time that my elementary school had a contest to draw a new tiger mascot for a wall mural, with a cash prize, and I was disqualified because they thought I had traced my entry instead of having drawn it from scratch. I had drawn it from scratch. Being a good artist doesn't pay sometimes.
But the point is, SOPA and PiPA want to make it so that this site could be taken down if they even suspect that I am breaking someone's copyright. No due process, no questions, just gone... and that is not okay. There are already laws that cover piracy and maybe we copyright holders need more avenues for recourse, but creating sweeping laws that take away our freedoms in the hopes that it might help get rid of copyright violation outside the US is ultimately not helpful. They need to find a better way. So, that was what that was all about.
p.s. Don't forget to get your animal high fives in before midnight my time. cheeseblarg at live dot com
Okay I have question as I am outside the US....does this only effect blogs/sites in the US or could they do it to anyone worldwide.
ReplyDeleteI am a beliver in copyright especially for the protection of artists like yourself.
But certainly don't agree with one country being the big brother of this big ole world.
The whole point is to stop foreign breakage of copyright laws on US owned or promoted sites. This is how they figure if a site is "for Americans":
Delete(A) the Internet site is used to provide goods or services to users located in the United States;
(B) there is evidence that the Internet site or portion thereof is intended to offer or provide such goods and services (or) access to such goods and services (or) delivery of such goods and services to users located in the United States;
(C) the Internet site or portion thereof does not contain reasonable measures to prevent such goods and services from being obtained in or delivered to the United States; and
(D) any prices for goods and services are indicated or billed in the currency of the United States.
From what I understand, the law would require sites (like blogger) to actively monitor for copyright violations on any page they host and take them down or risk being shut down, AND search sites like google will be required to remove suspected copyright violators (say in this case, Blogger) from their search engines completely.
And I agree. Though I am not terribly political because politics are not terribly funny (which is my thing), I am for as little human policing as possible while still requiring people not to kill/maim each other.
Thanks for the explanation :0)
DeleteYes, the Internet is the only place in the world where humanity can join together. It has possibilities for humanity not yet realized. I feel as though are at a T intersection. It gives power to the people which is why the people with power want to control it - I'm surprised it's been allowed to flourish thus far.
ReplyDeleteIn swedish sopa means garbage. I think its correct :-)
ReplyDeleteHi JRose,
ReplyDeleteLove the tiger pic. I feel your pain because my very talented 8-yr-old son was drawing a design on a plate at the local pottery painting place, and a few people asked if he traced it or copied it. He was looking at an image and doing his interpretation of it, but NOT tracing or copying. I was mildly outraged for him. Oh, I guess MY SON is the one who feels your pain, not really me, because the story happened to him and I was just a hapless witness.
best,
MOV
(and so excited to see your animal high five post!)
Woo! No SOPA for you! LOVE the tiger pic - its so good!!
ReplyDelete