Appropriation Art » News

Bill C-32 Response

gduggan — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:48:59 +0000

On June 2, 2010 the Conservative Government introduced proposed amendments to the Canadian Copyright Act. The Copyright Modernization Bill is a 62 page document. We’ve now read through this document carefully and have consulted with a number of experts. We were also invited by the Government to take part [...]

Appropriation Art Submission

gduggan — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:22:01 +0000

Today many artists and creators use, reproduce, appropriate and incorporate materials found within popular culture and society. These raw materials reflect and embrace the world around us: snippets of film and TV, radio spots, advertisements, news headlines, bits of text, characters, fragments of song…and so on. Artists use this source material just [...]

Copyright Consultations Commence

gduggan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:14:21 +0000

A Copyright Consultation process was initiated by the Conservative Government three days ago. The process is described as ‘nation-wide consultations’. The Conservative government say they want to ‘ensure that all perspectives are taken into account in an open and transparent process’. The Appropriation Art Coalition would like to encourage Artists and Cultural [...]

Stop Harpers Cultural Cleansing

gduggan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:00:17 +0000

Stephen Harper's contempt for culture has already cost him his majority government. The voters in Quebec have abandoned the Conservatives largely due to their stance on culture. Stephen Harper's position that culture is “a niche issue for some” exposes how little he knows (or cares)about culture in the country he claims to be most qualified to lead.

Appropriation Art Condemns Bill C-61

gduggan — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:53:20 +0000

Today Harper's Conservatives introduced legislation that would make Canadian copyright the most repressive in the free world. This, sadly, is neither rhetoric, nor sensationalism. Many within the cultural community feared a draconian new legislation. Bill C-61 surpasses those fears. If passed Bill C-61 would make Canada the only democracy in history to have criminalized a recognized and legitimate art form. An art form criminalized not for its content, but for the process of its making. Today the Conservative Government erased much of the artistic discourse of the past 100 years. Today (with TPM’s) the Conservative Government locked Canadian culture firmly in the past. It is safe to say that every important contemporary art collection in the world contains appropriation art of some form. Every anthology of contemporary art, every periodical, every textbook references and supports the practice of appropriation. And now, in Canada, willfully ignorant politicians have ruled that a time-honoured, artistic practice and art form will be rendered illegal. It is beyond shocking. It is embarrassing. Copyright is meant to nurture the rights of creators not suppress and criminalize artistic practice. Copyright is meant to protect artistic work not define it. It is not the responsibility of any government to legislate art. Culture evolves through a dialogue between cultural institutions, educators, critics and creators - most of whom have dedicated their lives to culture. Culture also evolves through a relationship with an audience; in this case an audience who have proven again and again that work involving appropriation generates excitement ...incites progress and change. Canadian artists who practice appropriation have been awarded our highest honours. How ironic. more

Canadian Bill Made In The USA

AppropriationArt — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:28:43 +0000

The Harper government is set to introduce their newly 'Made-in-the-USA' Copyright Bill before the House stands for the summer. While the majority of hard-working Canadians concerned with copyright are not privy to either the contents or the scheduling of this Bill (User groups , Librarians, Federation of Students, Academics, Appropriation Art etc) it appears that the same cannot be said for Industry. Over the past weeks (and indeed months) a well choreographed series of scheduled ‘events’ has taken place by pro-American influenced organizations, Lobbyists, American Government officials and even President Bush himself. more

Los Angeles Times: File ‘sharing’ or ‘stealing’?

gduggan — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:53:53 +0000

Los Angeles Times: File ‘sharing’ or ‘stealing’? The semantic debate over whether copyright infringement is theft. Jon Healey A few days ago I came across an Op-Ed submission that called for file sharing to be decriminalized. The editors here decided not to run it, but it intrigued me for a couple of reasons. First, the author, Karl [...]

Angus: 3-Step Approach Needed

gduggan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:31:34 +0000

NDP Digital Cultural Spokesman Charlie Angus has challenged Industry Minister Jim Prentice to start moving on copyright reform that will work for the benefit of Canadian artists and consumers. Prentice, like his predecessor, had a number of embarrassing starts and stops with this contentious issue. Angus says Prentice can follow three straight-forward steps to update Canada’s copyright legislation:

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William Patry:The Natural Rights Issue

gduggan — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:00:40 +0000

William Patry:The Natural Rights Issue Claims that copyright involves human rights or is a property right are based on the theory that copyright is also a natural right — a right that exists independent of legislative enactment, even if there are legislative enactments. In the United States, copyright is not a natural right, since the Supreme [...]

Vancouver Sun: Reformed copyright laws shouldn’t suppress creativity

gduggan — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:38:32 +0000

Vancouver Sun: Reformed copyright laws shouldn’t suppress creativity To appreciate how out of date Canada’s copyright laws are, consider that taping a TV show on a VCR for later viewing is a copyright infringement that could potentially lead to lawsuits. A VCR, in case you’re too young to remember, is a device with which people could record [...]