Pirates of the Web
Rick
Massimo (Providence Journal, registration required) wrote up a story
about a panel that I wish I’d had time to attend. When I was up at AS220 this past Tuesday, Bert Crenca,
AS220’s Artistic Director, grabbed me and told me he’d taken a crash
course in intellectual property by reading various writings, including
those of Stallman and Lessig. When I left the cafe, he was yelling
“Free Mickey”, and I’m glad to see he was still yelling it on the
panel.
On the panel, Bert shared his take on what it was like to have his art
physically stolen:
Crenca said that the concept of art for free doesn’t bother him as an
artist. “I’ve had three or four paintings stolen, and I’ve got boxes of
CDs that I can’t get rid of.” While the thefts were hurtful experiences
because the paintings were possessions, Crenca said, “culture thrives on
this sort of sharing. . . . There is nothing original in the world.”
Rick’s piece is excellent coverage of a topic that’s on the minds of
many of us. The panel included Bert, “Jonathan Frankel, a lawyer based
in Washington; and Jim Marks, a Web designer and musician based in
Boston.”