Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Bugger... preview is your friend I left a dangling fragment in the middle of a comment.
I should have finished it by saying:
"I never thought I'd write this, but I was less than impressed with Geoff Robinson's lthis rather odd interview (forward to around the seven minute mark) . Was I the only person who found myself wondering if Geoff was on a fishing expedition to confirm that Virginia is little more than Deadwood with broadband access? I think expat VTech student Gordon Kohler (?) was remarkably self-possessed despite his obvious shock, and I couldn't agree more with his comment that there will be plenty of time for the politics to play out. But this isn't the time, and IMO New Zealand certainly isn't the place.Please listen to the audio, and tell me whether you'd write Gordon off as a Rambo-wannabe 'gun nut'.
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Yes, comments on how the US should be run are never welcomed by Americans.
Well, no, Ben. Just as I don't think the National Rifle Association's views on New Zealand's firearms laws -- and their less than stellar enforcement -- would be particularly well received. I never thought I'd write this, but I was less than come. With all due disrespect, I think people in these parts who want to get their sneer about America's 'gun culture' - and paint a picture of Rambos on every corner - should ask themselves why the events depicted in this movie still touched some very raw emotions sixteen years later.
And, Kyle, you can reduce any debate to its lunatic fringes while emotions are (understandably) sky high. I personally don't think political posturing over open graves is constructive let alone in anything less than appalling taste.
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I don't know about art, but I do have to wonder what's the going rate to give those sweet cheeks a lascivious pat... :)
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Rodgerd:
Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Analogy police, sir. We've had reports of a terrible analogy in this thread!There's a pretty big difference there. People buy books in bulk, and people don't tend to buy paintings in the same way.
Cough... Perhaps I'm running in the wrong circles, but I don't know anyone who buys rare and antiquarian books by the truckload either. I can't for the life of me see why as recently as last November I saw a signed first edition copy Stephen King's Carrie sold for over NS$7,500. I've even seen first editions of the the Lord of the Rings trilogy (and we're not talking first impressions in fine or near-mint condition) offered for upwards of NZ$20,000.
Somehow, I don't think Mr. King or the Tolkien Estate are getting their cut from the inflated (some might say ridiculously over-hyped) market in their work. Whether they should is quite another question, though I'd suggest it's not an argument that would get a particularly sympathetic hearing.
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And as a totally irrelevant sidebar, has anyone else seen Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie's sublime graphic novel l__Lost Girls__? I never thought I'd say this, but I was enormously moved and provoked in the best sense of the word by what the creators themselves unapologetically call a work of p**nography. (Chucked the asterisks in for those readers who should be working.)
Interesting to read this:
On June 23, 2006, officials for Great Ormond Street Hospital -- which was given the copyright to Peter Pan in J.M. Barrie's will -- asserted Moore would need their permission to publish the book in the UK. Moore indicated that he would not be seeking their licence, claiming that he hadn't expected his work to be banned and that the hospital only holds the rights to performances of the work, not to the individual characters. On 11th October 2006, Top Shelf signed an agreement with GOSH that, while not conceding copyright infringement, they would not publish Lost Girls in the UK until after the copyright lapses at the end of 2007.Which opens a whole other can of worms, I guess.
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I think the whole idea of copyright/intellectual property rights is a fascinating one -- and it's perhaps inevitable that legislators are always going to be one step behind technology and how real people actually behave. Or as one wag put it, "folks writing Gutenberg laws for a Google world."
BTW, remember the flap a while back about the Herald columnists who weren't getting paid for their stuff being reproduced on-line? Gee, I hope they've gotten a lot smarter about signing away their electronic reproduction rights. :) I know it's often easier said than done when you're faced with the hard reality of paying the bills, feeding and watering a family etc., but I also think artists, writers, musicians etc. need to just be smart about business and well-informed activists when it comes to defending not only their economic self-interests but their artistic and intellectual property rights.
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There have been instances, such as Wildenstein's treatment of the estate of Mark Rothko, of outright fraud committed by dealers against the artists they represent. The government's proposed scheme will at least ensure that artists get a fair cut.
Um, a fair cut of what? First, I think the majority of art dealers and dealer gallery owners would (quite properly) take as severe exception as anyone else to being lumped in with the lowest common denominators of their field. And, sorry, you know something the art market is driven by fashion, hype and plain old changing tastes. Now, as I understand it, for years Michael Smither has been selling his work with a caveat that he receives a cut of any resale incomes. Very smart cookie, and good on him. By and large, he's not really my cup of green tea but it looks like many others disagree. I still remain to be convinced, however, that artists have any more entitlement to an 'artists' resale royalty', than New Zealand writers have to a cut if their books start appreciating in the market for modern first editions.
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There's no intrinsic right in any of that. You do it to encourage the creation of new works, or because you value the role of artists in society, whatever.
Or that you being given the use of someone else's intellectual property - just like, at the risk of sounding utterly wanky, I'm receiving a modest but most welcome payment for my contributions to PA Radio.
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Can I get a cut of the Trade Me and Ebay prices some of my early stuff hauls in now then? I like this idea....
Well, not an entirely facetious question IMO. I recently wanted to replace my ratty reading copy of Maurice Gee's 'Going West'. Being the cheap bastard that I am, I found it at a local secondhand book store for less than half what it would cost me to buy new (and contribute to Mr. Gee's next royalty cheque). And looking at a couple of dealer site, there's some folks asking north of $US100 for some of his first editions.
Where's Mo's cut? :)
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Peter:
There are defences to assualt - self-defence comes immediately to mind - and much as I despise Judge Philip Connell for doing so, as current law stands it was a proper exercise of his powers to discharge Sitiveni Sivivatu without conviction.
I just think that of all the arguments for repealing S. 59 of the Crimes Act, that will magically 'send a message' is one that is, at best, rather naive about how the thug mindset actually works. I would absolutely fabulous if it was that simple.
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