All Artists Please Read Now.

[on:]

I don't know how badly this will affect struggling artists who hope to make a living one day from their artworks and how much it will damage the artists who submit art for other to enjoy, but this legislation in front of the U.S. Congress seems to have the acting Admin at another (adult) Futurama site very upset.

If it's the way that Shabbazy feels it is, then independent artists are going to be figuratively raped and ripped off.

Here is a link to the story.  For people who wish to e-mail the Acting Administrator of TTPs and don't want to go to the site, if he gives me the OK, I'll place his e-mail address here.

 http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Columns&article_no=3605&page=1


Americans, don't be silent - call or write a letter to your Congressmand and Senator to protect your efforts and your property.

I encourage every member of this forum, even if they aren't artists, to speak out to protect the people who put a lot of effort into their artwork and get nothing more than an occasional nice work.  Your age doesn't matter - people can't tell your age if you submit a well-written letter.

Speaking out is the only way we may have to keep the independent artists alive and continuing to contribute.

Thanks for your time.

[Reply #1 on:]

Not as bad as you might think.

Terrified me when I read that guy's article but it always pays to do a bit of research. The brains at groklaw.org have also explained to me that it's not as bad as it looks. 

[Reply #2 on:]

Thanks for the update, but our politians are masters at placing an innoculous appearing sentence in the middle of pages of legislation to screw the people.

It's better to be forewarned about possible chicanery than to be ignorant and be at the mercy of our corrupt politicians.

[Reply #3 on:]

Well that's a relief right there. Granted I don't really have any artistic talent but I do enjoy the work of the super-human artists here.

 

Originally posted by Ralph Snart:
Thanks for the update, but our politians are masters at placing an innoculous appearing sentence in the middle of pages of legislation to screw the people.

I've never particularly liked Congress so this just drops my already low opinion of them. I feel the most appropriate thing to say in times like this is,

Bite My Shiny Metal Ass 

[Reply #4 on:]

Ugh, yes, I know of this issue from a lady I admire who posts animation artwork on her LiveJournal site. She is afraid she cannot do it  anymore unless she immigrates to Canada where there are fewer opportunities for her to work in animation.  I am glad it is not as bad as it seems, but what a shame we amateurs have to put on stamps and signatures to protect ourselves even if we never intended to go commercial.  But that is the way of life today in the USA, land of all work and no play. 

[Reply #5 on:]

Hey, at least you can vote em out, in theory. I woke up last week and realised I live in an essential dictatorship. The people who make the law aren't voted for, and the people we vote for don't have any power, as much as they pretend otherwise.

[Reply #6 on:]

No different here. Considering most of the people who vote have NO idea what's going on outside of their own little life they just vote for what the TV and other people tell them to. Then their's the fact that politicians are so deep in bed with special intrest groups (cough ACLU cough) that they're almost puppets.

Two most common things in the universe, hydrogen and stupidity.

I have to stop posting on this thread. I don't need to rant this often. Makes me get stabby.

[Reply #7 on:]

Theoretically, though, if a plane wee to drop on your Congress when the president was making an address (see Tom Clancy for inspiration) then at least you could vote in a bunch of people who actually want to do it differently. If a plane dropped on parliament, it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference who replaced them. Our government is in Brussels, now, not London, and we don't actually vote for them. At all. Elections? Who needs em?

[Reply #8 on:]

I'm sorry you woke up and realised that only last week? 

I can't seem to load the second link to the dA artcle 

Sounds an absurdely stupid/cruel idea though I'm not sure what to think, being as I am, a) an artist that only posts either fanart on fansites - which I can't technically claim copyright on anyway - and my original work only on DeviantArt that I guess I have the creative commons licence which is sort of "don't you bloody dare" and b)I live outside in the rest of the world so still adhere to international law.
You have my support though. Role on...um...whenever Bush leaves. Should that make a difference - but one can hope.

[Reply #9 on:]

Nah, I've known it for years, but the perfidy of Brown is bringing it home quite smartly. I think I'll move to Iceland. It's still in the EU, but at least I'd be living somewhere nice...

Now, the other thing: This bill doesn't even exist.
 http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/12/countering-the-fud-a.html  http://maradydd.livejournal.com/374886.html

[Reply #10 on:]

Ah, that's very interesting. Better still, she is aware of the Welsh spelling! (though going by my sister it would be Meredydd not Maradydd but that's not really important)

Oh well, I can go back to sleep now after that brief excitement...

Also, personally I think I'd move to Austria. Maybe Germany because they has more of a say it seems.

[Reply #11 on:]

Ehh, I'd rather be somewhere that wasn't surrounded by Germans and French*... besides, Iceland has outdoor volcanic saunas and free love. Or... was that outdoor love and free saunas? Anyway... it's better than here. No Broon.

* Sorry guys, I love you really. Honest! It's just that I'm a racist.   

[Reply #12 on:]

My net's running arsehole-slow at the moment, so I can't really be stuffed opening the links. Someone gimme the general gist - are folk going to try to stop me from drawing?

I really hope so. I could use a good excuse to crack some fucking skulls.

[Reply #13 on:]

 

Originally posted by Archonix:
Ehh, besides, Iceland has outdoor volcanic saunas and free love. Or... was that outdoor love and free saunas? Anyway... it's better than here. No Broon.

* Sorry guys, I love you really. Honest! It's just that I'm a racist.     

I am SO with you there.  Iceland is not perfect, but it seems more civilized than the  USA these days. And you, being from Europe, have the advantage to move there! Iceland is technically not in the EU but rather in the European Economic Area.  They are an independent folk and fighting all the way about joining the EU- they would lose a lot of their identity if they did.  Actually, it is both outdoor saunas and free love AND free saunas and outdoor love (at least during Verslunnamanna helgi weekend (Aug 1-4, 2008)

[Reply #14 on:]

Ohhh, the EEA... even better!

I'll have to see if I can get up there for august. I'm sure the wife would enjoy it.

[Reply #15 on:]

Yup- I would hate to see Iceland become part of the EU- I have a slightly better chance to work in Iceland and Norway over other European countries because they are not EU. I think Iceland would lose a lot by it, too, especially economically. 

I hope you get there in August.  Let me know if you need any advice on things to do there (ways to save money, etc.)  Also, I will be in Iceland on a horse trek in the Northeastern highlands in mid August.  If you and your wife happen to be there around this time let me know (I know I will be in Reykjavik part of the time and everyone winds up there)- it might be fun to meet both of you!

[Reply #16 on:]

 

Originally posted by coldangel_1:
My net's running arsehole-slow at the moment, so I can't really be stuffed opening the links. Someone gimme the general gist - are folk going to try to stop me from drawing?

I really hope so. I could use a good excuse to crack some fucking skulls.

In the US, at present: "you don't have to register your artwork to own the copyright. You own a copyright as soon as you create something. International law also supports this"

Should this law pass, it will form privately run regesteries, i.e.: "companies that you would be forced to pay in order to register every single image, photo, sketch or creative work...includes every sketch, painting, photo, sculpture, drawing, video, song and every other type of creative endeavor".

Should you not register you: "will lose virtually all the rights to not only [y]our future work but to everything [you've] created over the past 34 years" within the US.

I'm not sure whether this applies to works created only in the US, or whether a work created anywhere in the world needs to register or face exploitation within US juristiction.

Before any US-bashing begins, it appears that a piece of EU legislation may be attempting something similar. With nothing _approaching_ the levels of checks and balances/direct democratic input the US has, any EU piece of legislation is far more likely to get on the books should our foreign overlords will it.

Would potentially affect professional and semi-pro artists a lot, and amateurs to a much lesser extent - though for some fan artists, it would give the paysites a legal figleaf for the thefts they already commit.

[Reply #17 on:]

So, who's responsible for this? Who should bear the brunt of my unholy wrath?

[Reply #18 on:]

Nobody. As pointed out in the links I, uh... linked... the bill as described doesn't actually exist. However a similar piece of legislation is making its way through the EU hierarchy and will undoubtedly appear as a directive in a year or so.

Because the EU are bastards.

[Reply #19 on:]

 

Originally posted by Archonix:
However a similar piece of legislation is making its way through the EU hierarchy and will undoubtedly appear as a directive in a year or so.

For real?
That sounds nice and totalitarian.  Poop.

 

Originally posted by Zed 85:
Role on...um...whenever Bush leaves.

 

January, 2009. Yeah.

[Reply #20 on:]

 

Originally posted by Zed 85:
Role on...um...whenever Bush leaves. Should that make a difference - but one can hope.

That wouldn't change anything. It's the idiots in Congress who are doing this, not him.

 

Originally posted by Zed 85:
Also, personally I think I'd move to Austria. Maybe Germany because they has more of a say it seems.

Yeah, I've pretty much figured out over the years that the Germans do almost everything better than us.

[Reply #21 on:]

Archonix posted this elsewhere; I thought you guys should see it, too:
 http://illustratorspartnership.net/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00264

It would appear that the bill that "doesn't exist" just doesn't exist yet. 

[Reply #22 on:]

I heard about this a few days ago on GaiaOnline.com in the art forums. It really pisses me off. All my original work is either to myself, or sucks too much to post, but I do make soewhat original pieces based on already existing ones (just see my art thread). Now, if I have my signature on it, could that count as it's mark to protect it? Who knows. I'm already trying to get into a habit to hide my signature more in the picture so art-theft-whores can't edit it so easily... Unless they Photoshop it and can't see the signature. But that in turn means I couldn't date my works and sign it the way I so often have, the year aboce the Z, the full date below. Screw the greedy theiving bastards. Read the flipping Constitution.    Yeah, as soon as it's on the news... Everyone write their Congressmen, just like Futurama told us to do years ago.

[Reply #23 on:]

What it boils down to is there will be no real copyright protection unless you're part of a mysterious group that will somehow (my bet is $$$) have direct access to the patent/copyright office. Otherwise, any thief can claim he didn't happen to look at the commercial registry your work was in or that he found your work, signature deleted by someone else, on the Web and you are out of luck.

[Reply #24 on:]

I just cannot help thinking this is all some initiative created by super rich malpractice lawyers  looking for a new venue to mine for fees. 

It causes the Libertarian blood in me to overboil since I think if you created something it should be  considered yours without you having to pay for the right to create artwork that should have been  yours by the act of creating it... y'know there are some good sci fi stories that could come out of all this- e.g. in the future artists have to be wealthy to be able to practice their craft because they have to pay to "own" the work they create or find someone to pay to protect their art in some cyber form of art patronage... by that action would it destroy the idea of art since artists are not usually rich but now only rich people could be artists and their art would be entirely based on commercial profts to recoup on the expenses involved in protecting their art? 

 

[Reply #25 on:]

In the future then, if FordMustang has it correct, will suck and look like a five year old did it. Like I stated before, the is absolutely the most ludicrous idea that's come out of anyone's head. It violates Constitutional rights granted to us as U.S. citizens and anyone else around the world that has similar documents. It seems even more retarted that a few of the states(was it Indiana and a few others)want to pass a law that everyone who runs a deer over gets $250 cash. That's right. They get cash for killing wildlife. This world is coming to and end with all the damned stupidity...

[Reply #26 on:]

Ok, what?
Obviously off-topic, and I'm sure there's some brilliant rationale behind it - there always is - but seriously, paying people to hit deer? I can just picture some douchebag idiots, like, trying to smash into deer.
It could be a new highway game.

[Reply #27 on:]

I imagine it'd be to compensate for the fact that hitting a dear tends to damage your car, and intended for those that hit dear accidentally.

Or they could be trying to turn highways into one big demolition derby. Not sure.

On-topic: Man, fuck big business.

[Reply #28 on:]

This was pretty much a big misrepresentation of a bill from back in 2006, which was slammed ^^; There's no such thing as this supposed bill anymore, at least not in this form.

[Reply #29 on:]

Yeah, that's what I get for being overly-agressive and not doing research before placing a link to arouse the masses.

edit:  That's what I get for typing after taking powerful narcotics.  :shakes head::

[Reply #30 on:]

The appearance is that they're trying to do it again, though. And... hopefully they fail like the losers they are. AGAIN.

[Reply #31 on:]

That's congress for you, one humiliating failure after another.

[Reply #32 on:]

Congress isn't stupid enough to pass this bill, xD The whole art community would kick so much ass if they did, and they know it - bongs and pencils being thrown at their limos ;DD

And Ralph, it's okay! A lot of people got frazzled by this recently ^__^

[Reply #33 on:]

Isn't con-gress the opposite of pro-gress?

Please don't throw the mushy ones!

 

Originally posted by Professor Zoidy:

It seems even more retarted that a few of the states(was it Indiana and a few others)want to pass a law that everyone who runs a deer over gets $250 cash.

Indiana, eh?

[Reply #34 on:]

 

Originally posted by Xanfor:
Isn't con-gress the opposite of pro-gress?

I remember when Gallagher made that joke, so technically you would be entitled to through fruit at the audience, not the other way around.

[Reply #35 on:]

Oh, Gallagher - now I know where you must get your philosophy jokes