Is there any culture, besides our own (Euro-American, 1800 - present) where the copy rights of artists are protected?
Perhaps copyright protection, though essential for technological progress, is irrelevant, or worse, harmful for the imaginative arts. (even if it allows a few artists to get rich) It's definitely counter-productive in the visual arts -- where art museums copyright the items in their collection and then restrict (or even prohibit) access to the best possible reproductions of them. For example, some of my favorite sculptures are the Jonah marbles (3rd C. Asia Minor) in the Cleveland Museum. As of today, those pieces are not on display -- but neither are good pictures of them available except perhaps in out-of-print books or to those who buy 8X10 glossies for $30 each from the museum. In the internet age, museums can cheaply present huge pictures of multiple views of every sculpture in their collection -- but so far -- I think that only the Louvre has made that great contribution to the art lovers of the world. All the other museums just want to make an extra buck. (But I will concede that it might be impossible to produce movies unless the enormous investments required were legally protected by copyrights.) ____________________________________________________________ $1.99 each for 4 movies & free shipping when you join! http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/fc/BLSrjnxYnhrC1qmYNX6UNrHsPJkhnE cnLt7gsBTGuFQqXIcR5eVoRZf2QQZ/
