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Remix Video: Dangermouse Encore

Nicht unbedingt brandneu, aber ein sehr hübsches Remix Video, das auf der Bildebene macht, was DJ Dangermouse auf der Tonebene gemacht hat. Eigentlich sollten Musiker und Bands es ihren Fans überlassen, Musikvideos zu machen. Die sind meist sehr viel origineller, weil weniger auf Kommerz getrimmt.

Mit dem Urheberrecht Kritik unterdrücken

Hier mal wieder eine Geschichte aus der weiten Rubrik "Missbrauch des Urheberrechts". Der "Magier" Uri Geller geht gehen Kritiker vor, die versuchen nachzuweisen, dass seine paranormalen Fähigkeiten in Wirklichkeit aus Tricks und Täuschungen bestehen. Dass sie dazu Aufnahmen verwenden, die Uri Geller zeigen (und ihm möglicherweise gehören), liegt in der Natur der Sache. Genau aber das nützt Geller aus. Weil die grossen videohosting Sites wie Youtube kein Zeit haben, individuelle Anschuldigungen zu prüfen (aber von Gesetzes wegen verpflichtet sind, darauf zu reagieren), reicht eine Beschwerde oft schon aus, um ein Video löschen zu lassen.

For nearly as long as Geller has been bending spoons and moving compass needles with the wave of a hand, professional magicians have been loudly debunking his claims of psychic ability.

A new generation of critics led by 30-year-old Brian Sapient of an organization called the Rational Response Squad have taken their crusade online.

Sapient and others recently posted several video clips to YouTube demonstrating how Geller allegedly uses simple sleight of hand in his act. One slow-motion clip shows Geller quickly placing a small magnet on his left thumb before purporting to move the needle of a compass in front of a live television studio audience in Israel , where Geller was born. Another includes Geller's infamous "Tonight Show" flop, in which Johnny Carson exposed Geller by providing his own spoons and other props

In March, San Bruno-based YouTube Inc. took down many of the clips and suspended Sapient's account when Geller sent takedown notices claiming he owned the copyrights to the unflattering clips. That touched off an online tempest that has made Geller the subject of widespread derision and ridicule on several popular blogs like Boingboing.net.

"Uri Geller — the man who got rich 'bending spoons with his mind' — isn't just a con-artist, he's also a copyright abuser," wrote one of the tamer bloggers linked by Boingboing.

The video and Sapient's YouTube account were restored two weeks later after Sapient complained.

It also turned out that Geller owned no more than eight seconds of the 13 minutes of video, according to Geller's own court filings. But Geller is still suing Sapient in Philadelphia's federal court, accusing him of copyright infringement. Sapient says the clips are protected by the First Amendment laws, which allow "fair use" of copyrighted material.

"Put in its simplest terms, this case is about theft, not speech," read court documents filed last week on Geller's behalf.

Geller, who has become nearly as famous for his prolific litigation as for his alleged psychic abilities, knows his way around the court system. He unsuccessfully sued longtime nemesis James "Amazing" Randi at least three times for defamation, stemming from Randi's own efforts to unmask Geller as a fraud, and lost several other cases lodged against his critics throughout the years.

Geller, who lives in London, referred calls to his Philadelphia lawyer, Richard Winelander, who conceded that Geller probably didn't foresee the firestorm his lawsuit would inspire. "This thing has spun out of control," he said.
Quelle: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288665,00.html

ProLitteris und Creative Commons

Morgen wird die Creative Commons Lizenz in der Schweiz lanciert, und heute hat die Digitale Allmend die Antworten der ProLitteris zu einigen Fragen nach der Vereinbarkeit von CC und Verwertungesellschaften veröffentlicht. Leider sind die Antworten für meinen Geschmack etwas gar knapp ausgefallen und für mich auch nicht immer ganz klar. Aber es scheint, dass es grundsätzlich möglich ist, als Mitglied der ProLitteris Werke unter CC zu veröffentlichen, aber dass es im einigen Randbereichen doch noch Kompatibilitätsprobleme gibt. Also, im Zweifelsfall direkt bei ProLitteris nachfragen.

Four Shreddings and a Funeral

This is the manuscript for a ritual performed by Piratbyrån some days ago, including a four-point communique declaring the so-called file-sharing debate dead and buried.
http://www.piratbyran.org/walpurgis
The spring mountain. The highest point in Stockholm. It's twilight time at Walpurgis Night. Four piles of the book "Copy Me" are assembled in the formation of a rhomb.

In the middle stands the May Queen, in green clothing and a face mask of feathers. In her hand, a burning torch.

"Welcome to Piratbyran's Walpurgis ritual year 2007: "Four shreddings and a funeral". Today, we will finally put an end to the so-called "file-sharing debate"; the same file-sharing debate that we once took part in initiating has now served its time.

When Piratbyran was founded four years ago, there was no such discussion in Sweden as there is today. There were anti-piracy groups whose words stood unchallenged, but first and foremost there existed a copying without historical equivalent, taking place in file-sharing networks.

We gave a voice to that copying, but now it is time to move along.
" Four Shreddings and a Funeral" vollständig lesen

Kunstfreiheit, reloaded

In der aktuellen Ausgabe der Zeitschrift Springerin ist eine Artikel, in dem ich eine Art Zwischenbilanz zu Kunstfreiheit.ch zu ziehen versuche. Nicht vollständig, weil nur wenig Platz, aber dennoch....
Zur Lage der Urheberrechts gesetzgebung - aus der Sicht eines Co-Initiators der Initiative Kunstfreiheit.ch.