Monday, February 09, 2009

Copy my rights...

Added this to the front of previous T - Shirt print, after I read this post. The legalities of copyright are pretty mind numbing to me, but I was struck by this phrase as I scrolled through a related link on the creative commons concept. That being to promote creativity people may willingly relinquish, "some" or "all" of the legal rights to their work. And as I thought about that phrase, I wondered about the broader implications... I thought it was quite a good counter point. The idea that we reserve no rights for ourselves. That we might willingly relinquish the "reservation" (protection - control - defence?) of our rights to give people the space and freedom to choose to give them to us? Looks great on a T- Shirt, how about when my "rights" are actually threatened? My standard of living? my work entitlements? My access to medical care? Theres a difference between rights being available, or given freely, and rights being "reserved." Are yours and my rights, as artists and people, "reserved,( thereby excluding others) or "upheld," thereby including others?

Interesting.