Here’s another favourite Mimi and Eunice comic strip from the archives of Nina Paley!

I love this one because it touches on a very important part of the whole Copyright issue. Many proponents of Copyright argue that without it, no new cultural works would be created. This is wrong, and it should be obvious to everyone. But, of course, it’s not.

The thing is, artists have always created art. Without Copyright, artists would keep creating art. Do you actually think that if Copyright was taken away, writers would stop writing, painters would stop painting, and photographers would stop taking pictures?

People who know me know that I talk a lot about copyright reform, free content, open culture, and alternative funding. I’ve thought about sending some money to several people and groups for quite some time, but I’ve just not gotten around to it. And frankly, I am a bit disappointed with myself. It’s time for me to start putting my money where my mouth is.

This christmas, I’ll be donating to, and buying from, some of my favorite artists and causes. I will start with pledging amounts here on my blog and on Facebook. Then I will initiate the actual transactions. By pledging the money publicly, I’m hoping to inspire you to do the same.

Personally, I’m planning on spending about €50. I’ll just take a few days to think about how I’ll divide the money. A fiver here and a fiver there is not much, I know, but that’s why I’m asking you to take part!

Please, join me and show the world that sharing is caring. Share some money with the people who share their works with you.

I’m not trying to guilt or force anyone into anything. If you want to join in, that’s great! Give whatever you want to whoever you want. If you don’t want to join in, that’s fine too. I just ask you to be sincere. If you pledge an amount, please go through with it.

Here are some suggestions on how you can support your favorite creators and causes:

• Donations
• Buying merchandise
• Paying for premium content
• Buying songs or ebooks from iTunes, Smashwords, or wherever, where the creators get a fair slice of the pie

Give as much or as little as you want, to whatever artists, groups, causes, or random people you want!

Sharing is Caring

/Stig Rudeholm

Photo by Krystal T on flickr.com: http://www.flickr.com/photos/krystalt/
Licensed under a “Creative Commons – Attribution” license

Here’s another favourite Mimi and Eunice comic strip from the archives of Nina Paley!

Ever noticed how most corporations pushing for stricter legislation to “protect creators” never actually create anything themselves, except lawsuits?

Barry Eisler

Over at techdirt.com, best-selling author and former intellectual property lawyer Barry Eisler is talking about Copyright, Piracy And Why SOPA/PIPA Are ‘Extremely Disturbing’.

Copyright terms have grown to be over a century. No reasonable person can claim that, with a term of less than a century, artists wouldn’t be adequately incentivized to create. So current copyright terms are clearly too long from the standpoint of what’s best for society overall. Personally, I think a twenty-five year term would be more than enough. Anyone who claims he wouldn’t bother creating if he could only commercially exploit his creation for a quarter century wasn’t going to create anything worthwhile anyway.

If you are at all interested in this stuff, you really should go read it right away!

Big media companies hate copying, not because it’s stealing (because it’s not), but because it is a form of competition. And competition is always bad when you are guarding a monopoly.

Here it is, though, another Mimi and Eunice strip from Nina Paley!

This is another favourite of mine, as it highlights a real problem with copyright legislation today. The fact that it is increasingly used as a tool for censorship.

I’ll be back tonight with a new Album of the Week!

There just isn’t such a thing as ‘‘copyright policy’’ anymore. Every modern copyright policy becomes Internet policy – policy that touches on every aspect of how we use the net.

And as we make the transition from a world where everything we do includes an online component to a world where everything we do requires an online component, it’s becoming the case that there’s no such thing as ‘‘Internet policy’’ – there’s just policy.

I highly recommend everyone to read it!

Link: http://www.locusmag.com/Perspectives/2011/11/cory-doctorow-its-time-to-stop-talking-about-copyright/