From the Quaternions Sent Mon, Jan 11th 1999, 21:17
From the Quaternions Sent Mon, Jan 11th 1999, 21:17
> > > Good luck looking, because you won't find it. Now, does that mean that > > > such a warning simply goes without saying? > > > > > yes. much in the same way that if you go out and shoot someone, you won't be > > able to avoid jail by saying "i've never seen a written law that says you > > can't shoot someone". > > > I see - that explains the guy who got 'busted' in Arizona for carrying > an entire trunkload of pure MDMA and then got off perfectly scot-free > because the lawmen had misspelled the chemical name for Ecstasy in the > laws proscribing it. Better example: There are laws against murder. therefore, I don't have to wear a sign that says "Don't kill me, it's illegal." Copyright is pretty damn complicated and i don't pretend to understand all the legal or ethical issues, but there are basic laws that protect artist's ownership of what they've written (and written reminders are just that, reminders, not law themselves), and there are basic ethical principles which say 'don't rip something off unless you're going to add your own creativity to it." However you feel about the damn MASK limited editions, it seems pretty obvious that artists have the right to define how their work looks, sounds, and in what quantity/format/whatever it is produced. "Hey, there's only one Mona lisa. Let's get a computer to repaint exact copies." Make copies if you want, but be prepared to suffer the consequences if you're caught. There's something to be said for universal access to art, but there are also good arguments for art as object, rare commodity. It all comes down to how you value it... And the artists, if anyone, have the right to value their own art. At least, they have the law on their side. Sam