ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION:
OWNING THE IMAGE: THE COPYRIGHT DEBATE
Saturday, March 28, 1998, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.

FACILITATOR: JONATHAN TASINI, president of the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981), and multimedia artist LES LEVEQUE. By: Philip Rothman

This lively roundtable discussion dealt with issues of copyright and ownership.Tasini defined the central issue as one of ownership of information in the digital age. “Who are the good guys and the bad guys?” Mr. Tasini asked. Who’s on what side here? Is it authors and artist versus corporations?” He challenged the participants to “give a little sense of that because I think it will help bring up concerns as we talk about this issue.”

Multimedia artist Les LeVeque opened on a lighthearted note. “I’ve been violating copyright for years,” he said. “This is a copyright-anonymous group!” The highly participatory group included artist Daria Dorosh, who was concerned with the paradigm of ownership. “Is copyright another word for getting paid for what we do? This thing of ownership is very frightening to me.” Tasini asked her to clarify the difference between getting paid for one’s work and ownership. Ms. Dorosh elucidated, “I want my work to be available to everybody. I love my work; I would like to have everyone have access to my work and get paid for it.”

The issue of access was of primary interest to many of the participants involved in the discussion. Kimber Craine, communications manager of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, said, “Once the art is out there [on the web], it is easy to take it and do whatever you want to with it. Once you purchase something, you’re essentially purchasing the rights to use it. We can share all kinds of information.” Mr. Craine said that people “have access to collections and museums that they never had before. Is that going to be restricted? Are the schools going to have to pay a licensing fee? Essentially it is a market issue versus an educational issue.”

One major hurtle that emerged in the debate was the dichotomy between the distribution of art for education, and the protection of the rights of creators to reap rewards from their work. As Beth Vogel of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts put it, “We want to make art available, but we want to do everything we can to protect the owners of those copyrights.”

Amy Hufnagel, an arts educator, mentioned that certain works of art were not being taught in the schools because teachers were afraid of violating copyright laws by reproducing the artwork and showing it to their class. “I find this troubling,” she said. Placing a perspective on the role of new technologies was Benjamin Spierman, Director for the Business Center for the Arts in the Bronx. “I think as much as things have changed,” Mr. Spierman said, “they haven’t changed that much. For twenty years, teachers have been using that material, and now they’re scared of it. It is the level of paranoia that has changed.”

Near the end of the session, Lydia Mann, a desginer in Manhattan, mused, “I wonder where ethics fit in as opposed to law.” To which Tasini replied, to much laughter, “Forget ethics!”