Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity

Book Description

Lawrence Lessig, “the most important thinker on intellectual property in the Internet era” (The New Yorker), masterfully argues that never before in human history has the power to control creative progress been so concentrated in the hands of the powerful few, the so-called Big Media. Never before have the cultural powers- that-be been able to exert such control over what we can and can't do with the culture around us. Our society defends free markets and free speech; why then does it permit such top-down control? To lose our long tradition of free culture, Lawrence Lessig shows us, is to lose our freedom to create, our freedom to build, and, ultimately, our freedom to imagine.

Customer Reviews:

Everyone should read this.......2007-04-06

This book is excellent. Lessig's argument is thorough and well-developed, showing why the copyright laws affect all of us, from producers of copyright material to consumers and creative innovators building off of previous work. A great, and important, read for anyone, especially those interested in learning how Big Media in bed with Congress has successfully limited the freedom of typically law-abiding citizens to empower the old corporations and enfeeble the upstarts.

Whether conservative or liberal or anything in between, the book should really "strike home" and make you understand just how important it is to have a free culture.

A must for anyone online.......2007-01-09

I heard Lawrence Lessig speak at a conference earlier in 2006 and it was one of the best presentations I'd ever heard. So it will come as no surprise that his book is written in the same to the point, easy to follow and conscise style.

It's historical research sets the foundation for a look at things to come on the Internet as new technology threatens established media, much the same way as Lessig points out it did in previous centuries. The pirates of yesteryear are the corporations of today who threaten the pirates of today. He is humble as he describes his defeat in the US Supreme Court and proactive as he puts some suggestions forward to resolve the current crisis affecting copyright on the Net.

Couldn't put it down and have already purchased Code 2 by the same author.

This is an incredible book and a must-have if you want to learn about new copyright rules!.......2007-01-01

This is an incredible book. I agree so much with the discussions that Lawrence gives, and the material is a great look at issues related to the special interest groups and some of the things they have pushed and are trying to push through Congress.

An excellent summary of the history and potential future of copyright.......2006-12-27

You might think a book about the history and future of copyright law would be painfully boring. If the book is Free Culture: The Nature & Future of Creativity, by Lawrence Lessig, you'd be wrong. Lessig does a fantastic job of framing copyright with terms and scenarios everyone can understand. On top of that, he's a very engaging writer, the type that can probably make just about any topic interesting.

Lessig explains how large media companies like Disney got their start in an era of very relaxed copyright rules and regulations. In fact, Disney's classic Steamboat Willie was nothing more than a knock-off of Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill, Jr. What would happen if you tried to do the same thing today and based your video on a Disney character? You'd probably get a nice cease and desist letter from the folks at Disney.

One could argue that the IP policies that existed when Disney got off the ground needed some adjustments to fit today's content world. Lessig points out where things have probably gone too far though (e.g., the ridiculously high financial penalties associated with peer-to-peer file sharing). I'm not saying piracy isn't wrong. Not at all. As I've said on my blog, stealing is stealing, but Lessig gives plenty of examples to show how the resulting penalties are more than excessive.

A main thrust of the book has to do with how Congress keeps extending copyright terms and that almost nothing is therefore allowed to move into the public domain. He argued the case at the Supreme Court level but apparently lost because he couldn't show how the situation was hurting anyone. He makes a good point that there are plenty of works in a state of limbo, not really in distribution but beyond the reach of the public domain because they're still covered by copyright term extensions. I tend to agree with the Supreme Court though and find it hard to believe there are loads of derivative works opportunities that aren't being leveraged because of this. That said, Lessig presents an interesting alternative copyright model where owners can opt in to extend the original term.

Lessig is also well-known for his work on the Creative Commons (CCL) initiative. The CCL is a valuable model and a nice alternative for certain uses. Although I had originally thought this book wasn't available via CCL I now understand that was an oversight in the printed book. It is a CCL product and you can obtain the content, and various remixes of the content, at free-culture.org.

today's content owners are yesterday's pirates.......2006-07-06

Lessig has written a very clear and entertaining book about copyright, piracy, and culture, filled with lots of real-world examples to make his points. The book covers major events in the history of copyright in the United States (from its beginnings in English common law and the UK Statute of Anne) in order to show how its meaning has changed, and how those who are making accusations of piracy today were the pirates of yesterday. (Jessica Littman's book, Digital Copyright, is a nice complement to this book, covering the history of copyright in greater depth.) Lessig makes a strong case that the direction of copyright, giving greater control over content to a very small number of owners than has ever existed, is eroding the freedom that we've historically had to preserve and transform the elements of our culture.

Lessig begins by describing how the notion of a real property right for land extending into the sky to "an indefinite extent, upwards" became a real rather than theoretical issue with the invention of the airplane. In 1945, the Causbys, a family of North Carolina farmers, filed a suit against the government for trespassing with its low-flying planes, and the Supreme Court declared the airways to be public space. This example shows how the scope of property rights can change with changes of technology, in this particular case resulting in an uncompensated taking from private property owners, yet leading to enormous innovation and the development of a new industry and form of transportation. He follows this with the example of the development of FM radio, which was intentionally back-burnered by RCA and then hobbled by government regulation at RCA's behest in order to protect its existing investment in AM radio. This example shows how powerful interests can stifle technological change through its ownership of intellectual property (in this case, the patents regarding FM radio).

He then discusses how intellectual property laws have developed in the U.S., pointing out that Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse made his talking picture debut in the movie "Steamboat Willie" (he had earlier appeared in a silent cartoon, "Plane Crazy"), which was a parody of Buster Keaton's "Steamboat Bill." Many of Disney's characters and stories were taken directly from the previous work of others, such as the Brothers Grimm--works in the public domain, freely available for such copying. As new forms of media have been created, they have borrowed from previous forms. Today, however, the creators of content who have borrowed from their predecessors have successfully changed the rules so that their successors cannot borrow from them, both by extending the term and scope of copyright protection and by developing technologies that have greatly reduced the ability of successors to borrow or re-use content. The specific rules are completely inconsistent, based on the political power of the relevant parties at the time the laws were changed. When Edison developed the ability to record sounds, including recording music written by others, copyright law was changed to provide for compulsory licensing for a fee paid to the composer. With radio broadcasting, the fee still goes to the composer, but not to the recording artist. But put that same radio broadcast on the Internet, and now fees must be paid to both the composer and the recording artist.

Where there used to be a sea of unregulated uses of copyrighted material containing a small island of restricted uses (with shores of fair use), there is now a vast continent of restricted uses, a stark cliff of fair use, and a tiny channel of unregulated uses. Lessig shows a table on pp. 170-171 showing commercial and noncommercial uses and the rights to publish and transform for each. In 1790, copyright only governed publication rights for commercial uses, the other three cells of the table being free. At the end of the 19th century, publication and transformation for commercial use was governed by copyright, while noncommercial use was free. The law was changed to govern copies, including much noncommercial use. Today, all four cells of the table are governed by copyright.

Lessig discusses Eric Eldred's attempt to defend the right to transform public domain works into electronic versions by fighting Congress's continuing extensions of the term of copyright in the face of the Constitution's restriction to "limited Times," and how the case was lost at the U.S. Supreme Court to inconsistent reasoning from the conservative justices who failed to even address the commerce clause argument and the precedent they set in Lopez v. Morrison case. This is a wonderfully written, persuasive, entertaining, and dismaying book. It deserves to be widely read and understood, so that ultimately intellectual property law in the U.S. will be reformed.

[...]

Scribbling in the Sand: Christ and Creativity

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Deep waters for the artist
Much More Than Just Scribbling...
Get it for the letters...
Must read for Christian artists
Mallowcups for Mike

Scribbling in the Sand: Christ and Creativity
Michael Card
Manufacturer: InterVarsity Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0830823174

Book Description

"It was art and it was theater at the same time, but it was more. It was what he did not say that spoke most powerfully to the mob that morning. It was a cup of cold water for a thirsty adulteress and an ice cold drenching in the face to a group of angry Pharisees.

"To this day we have not the slightest idea what it was Jesus twice scribbled in the sand. By and large the commentaries have asked the wrong question through the ages. They labor over the content, over what he might have written. They ask what, without ever realizing the real question is why? It was not the content that mattered but why he did it. Unexpected. Irritating. Creative."

Singer, songwriter and diligent student of Scripture, Michael Card is well known for the depth of his lyrics and the artistry of his music. But far more significant than the songs he has penned is the source of his inspiration--the creativity embodied in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God.

In this book Card explores the biblical foundations of true Christian creativity. Whether we think of ourselves as creative or not, all of us are created in the image of our Creator God, and thus creativity is a vital expression of our discipleship. With Jesus as his model, Card shows how understanding God's creative imagination leads to a lifestyle of humility, obedience and servanthood. And he invites us to follow God's creative call through worship and community.

Through Jesus, God has spoken to us in a word we can understand. Likewise, Michael Card has articulated the story of Jesus to others through his own scribblings in the sand. This book shows us how we can do the same.

Customer Reviews:

Deep waters for the artist.......2005-05-03

When I read this book, I loved the ideas more than the excecution of them, in the literary sense. I guess I expected it to be more eloquent, with better excegetics, but I realized that it was not needed.

Some times as a painter, I would keep working on a painting too long, and really make it worse than better. What I was looking for was not needed, it would have muddied the colors Michael was trying to communicate to us.

Thanks for giving us your thoughts, and being willing to share those of others with us in the persuit of excellence in our gifts.

Much More Than Just Scribbling..........2005-01-25

Why should a doctor who can't carry a tune in a bucket and can't draw a stick figure love a book about the nature of art and creativity written by a musician? But I fell in love with this book from the first chapter, for it beautifully and eloquently puts forth a vision of Christianity that everyone needs to hear and embrace. As Larry Crabb describes the book, "Every Christian needs to meditate on Michael Card's message...the result will be a thrilling release of the Spirit from depths you hadn't before realized were there.." I had the pleasure of hearing Michael discuss the themes of this book in a coffee-house: he is a humble and wise servant of Christ, and his writing reflects it.

Get it for the letters..........2005-01-20

I have to admit, I was somewhat disappointed with Scribbling in the Sand at first... It's not that there was anything wrong with the book, but it struck me as being longer than it needed to be for what it had to say. The book had many good things to say, but it felt like a light read, and I was hoping for something more deep and incisive.

Then, however, I ran across the chapter with letters from various artists and theologians, and it provided just what I was looking for. They were a great contrast with Michael Card's simpler writing about faith and art, rounding out the content of the book with some insightful and challenging thoughts on art as worship.

All in all, this is a good book for someone new to the topic of the intersection of art and Christian faith, and the letters especially are worth reading and re-reading.

Must read for Christian artists.......2003-08-06

Michael Card is well-known for his music, and as a Christian author he reaches down deep into the heart. Scribblng in the Sand will challenge artists of all types to use their gifts as worship to God. This is not a how to book. No advice on getting published or how to write better or how to paint or how to improve your talent.
The middle bogged down a bit for me, but the first few chapters and the last few were excellent. Great teaching. Great reading. He includes letters written to artists from other artists. These provide very good advice and were poignant. If you are an artist of any type, get this book and keep in your library.

Mallowcups for Mike.......2003-01-30

Yes, okay, Michael's book is great and I had quite an eloquent review in mind. Then I got to the letter by Harold Best at the end of the book and forgot all about it: get this book for those pages alone. And for Calvin Seerveld's letter, and for the letter from the art guy from New York, and from the Dutch guy. Mallowcups will of course be credited to Mike's account because he had the--what? generosity? halacious acumen?--to include them.

This book should be a textbook companion in the life of every writer, poet, artist, whatever, who belongs to Jesus and wants a clear slant on the creative responsibility. I haven't read another book of its kind, and didn't know I was wistful for it. There are some books that should never be loaned out, and this has joined those few on my shelf. I'll slobber and rave over it, and will remain cheerfully selfish with my copy. I'll buy it for someone else before I loan it, because it will be taken from my shelf again and again for reference.

Having gushed, I will say I'm not sure how I feel about Mike's take on this "getting together" thing, this accountability thing with other artists. I've seen that side, have been there, and the accountability rap can get icky. Stormy solitude is a more compelling place; but I will say, I'm cautiously checking out his ideas and I'll get back to him on it.

Oh, and Mike: the appendix, which you wrote "reluctantly" on the advice of some friends, wasn't needed. You should have taken a bullet on that one. If someone didn't get it before then, how could a didactic play-by-play stick 'em in the guts? I loved it when you said "For their sake, here, reluctantly, are a few ideas." What cheering honesty.

Book Description

Hans Joas is one of the foremost social theorists in Germany today. Based on Joas’s celebrated study of George Herbert Mead, this work reevaluates the contribution of American pragmatism and European philosophical anthropology to theories of action in the social sciences. Joas also establishes direct ties between Mead’s work and approaches drawn from German traditions of philosophical anthropology.

Joas argues for adding a third model of action to the two predominant models of rational and normative action—one that emphasizes the creative character of human action. This model encompasses the other two, allowing for a more comprehensive theory of action. Joas elaborates some implications of his model for theories of social movements and social change and for the status of action theory in sociology in the face of competition from theories advanced by Luhmann and Habermas.

The problem of action is of crucial importance in both sociology and philosophy, and this book—already widely debated in Germany—will add fresh impetus to the lively discussions current in the English-speaking world.

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Paul Tillich On Creativity: Volume III
Jacquelyn Ann K. Kegley
Manufacturer: University Press of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 081917310X

Book Description

This text offers a thorough examination of Paul Tillich's concept of creativity as well as an interpretation of his thoughts by his critics from the past and the present. The volume makes available for the first time, Tillich's powerful, newly translated essay "The Demonic," and his essay "Class Struggle and Religious Socialism," never before published in English. New areas of concern are explored such as the concept of "the Feminine" in Tillich's thought as well as his relationship to Alfred North Whitehead. Comment is offered by Manfred O. Meitzen, James Luther Adams, Lewis S. Ford, Ann Belford Ulanov, John E. Smith, and others. Co-published with the Foundation for the Philosophy of Creativity.

Creativity, Communication and Cultural Value

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Creativity, Communication and Cultural Value
Keith Negus , and Michael Pickering
Manufacturer: Sage Publications Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Cultural Analysis of Texts

ASIN: 0761970762

Book Description

'There have been few critical engagements with the concept of creativity in recent years, so the authors provide an important contribution in drawing attention to what is arguably at the heart of much of what we most value in culture'

- Douglas Kellner, University of California, Los Angeles

'In this important book, Keith Negus and Michael Pickering challenge commonplace assumptions about creativity and casual invocations of genius. They give comfort neither to popular wisdom nor to academic convention. Drawing on the work of philosophers, sociologists, political theorists and economists, as well as artists, musicians and novelists, they raise profound questions about the very ideas which sustain our understanding of art and culture'

- Professor John Street, University of East Anglia

'It's all too rare to read a cultural studies book that offers any real originality. This one achieves this, not only by addressing debates and sources neglected in the field, but also by traversing high and low culture, and all points between'

- Dave Hesmondhalgh, The Open University

Creativity has become a buzzword and key issue in debates about cultural policy, human growth and the media and cultural industries. It has also become a very misused term used to describe anything from musical and artistic genius, to shady financial accounting, to the teaching of children and the management of employees.

But what does it mean?

Negus and Pickering provide a clear and logical way of understanding what we describe as creative, and how this term has become central to attaching cultural value. Their book:

· Develops an approach which enables us to think of creativity as both ordinary and exceptional

· Focuses on creativity as a way of rethinking key concepts in the study of culture such as:

Convention; innovation; tradition and experience.

Book Description

For centuries, the Zinacantec Maya women of Mexico have woven and embroidered textiles that express their social and aesthetic values and embody their role as mothers and daughters. Boasting more than two hundred striking and detailed photographs of Zinacantec textiles and their makers, this innovative study provides a rare long-term examination of the cognitive and socialization processes involved in transmitting weaving knowledge across two generations. Author Patricia Marks Greenfield first visited the village of Nabenchauk in 1969 and 1970. Her return in 1991 and regular visits through 2003 enable her to combine a scholarly study of the impact of commercialization and globalization on textile production and sales, acculturation, and female socialization with poignant personal reflections on mother-daughter relationships, creativity, and collaboration. Her collection of data and range of approaches make this book a major contribution to studies of cognition and socialization, the life cycles of material culture, and the anthropology of the Maya. Weaving Generations Together will appeal to both the academic specialist and anyone who admires Maya weaving and culture.

Customer Reviews:

Maya weaving and education.......2006-04-18

If you visit the wholesale markets around Mexico City--quite a voyage--you will notice that some of the burliest and proudest truckers, hauling some of the biggest rigs, are wearing flaming-red ponchos that clearly say--or shout--"trucker elite here, as fine as it gets." These men are from Mayas from Zinacantan, a county in Chiapas, and their wives and daughters produce some of the finest and most blazingly eye-dazzling fabrics on earth.
For over 3 decades now, Patricia "Meg" Greenfield has been studying the women, their weaving methods, and above all how they teach their children to weave. Children learn by intensely involved watching and by practice (at first on toy looms). Mothers provide minimal verbal instruction; older peers provide more. The teacher/pupil ratio is 1:1 or better. Greenfield contrasts this learning-by-doing with schoolroom teaching, a rather new thing for Maya girls. Linear thinking and classroom drills can be hard to deal with after learning textile arts.
Until recently, the Zinacantan trademark was a red-and-white-striped fabric that goes back to pre-Spanish times. A very similar item around 700 years old turned up in a dry cave in the mountains near Zinacantan. Today, with some modest (and unevenly distributed) local affluence, and with tourists on the Pan-American Highway to buy pieces, creativity has blossomed, and far more red dye and fine embroidery are used. The results often make it to first-rank museums in Mexico, Europe, and the USA.
Meg Greenfield's work is part of a larger universe of studies of Maya education (Jean Lave, Barbara Rogoff-who also studies weaving--Becky Zarger, Rick Stepp...), and these in turn are part of one of the most successful projects in anthropology: the Chiapas Project begun and managed by the late Evon Vogt of Harvard University. A tireless organizer, Vogt sent hundreds of researchers to Zinacantan and nearby communities, at first to find ancient Maya traditions, later to find out absolutely everything. The research on education is thus thoroughly contexted in wider knowledge.
The implications for education are not spelled out in detail here; Rogoff has done more, in several books. Teachers and education planners ignore the findings at their peril. The benefits of traditional watch-and-do learning are profound, especially for nonverbal skills. We of the "modern" world are losing a very great deal by shifting increasingly to mindless drills tested by mindless multiple-choice machine-graded tests. We are losing all the brilliance and creativity and producing mechanized students.
Thus, I hope this book will not languish on the anthropology or (worse) the "traditional art" shelf. It should be required reading for educators.
It should also have an even wider appeal among anyone who loves photographs. The book illustrations are incredible. They are wonderfully printed; the trademark flame-red color shows up in its full subtlety, complexity, and artistic sophistication, rather than looking garish. Most of the shots are by Meg's daughter Lauren, with several by the legendary photographer and Maya scholar Frank Cancian.
My favorite photo, though, is one of Meg's: on p. xvi, Lauren poses next to a Maya girl (already, at nine years old, a good weaver). Lauren has a graceful smile for the camera, but Paxku has already perfected the grave, dignified, serious look that grown Maya think proper for public space. She is looking straight through the camera into the eyes of the viewer, with the calm self-confidence that has carried the Maya through five thousand eventful years.

The Native Leisure Class: Consumption and Cultural Creativity in the Andes

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Studying the weavers of Otavalo, Ecuador

The Native Leisure Class: Consumption and Cultural Creativity in the Andes
Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226113957

Book Description

In the Andean city of Otavalo, Ecuador, a cultural renaissance is now taking place against a backdrop of fading farming traditions, transnational migration, and an influx of new consumer goods. Recently, Otavalenos have transformed their textile trade into a prosperous tourist industry, exporting colorful weavings around the world.

Tracing the connections among newly invented craft traditions, social networks, and consumption patterns, Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld highlights the way ethnic identities and class cultures materialize in a sensual world that includes luxurious woven belts, powerful stereos, and garlic roasted cuyes (guinea pigs). Yet this case reaches beyond the Andes. He shows how local and global interactions intensify the cultural expression of the world's emerging "native middle classes," at times leaving behind those unable to afford the new trappings of indigenous identity.

Colloredo-Mansfeld also comments on his experiences working as an artist in Otavalo. His drawings, along with numerous photographs, animate this engaging study in economic anthropology.

Customer Reviews:

Studying the weavers of Otavalo, Ecuador.......2000-04-07

In this book, anthropologist Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld provides an ethnography of a small weaving village outside of Otavalo, Ecuador in the South American Andean mountains. The Otavalo Indians have become famous internationally for marketing their textiles (such as thick, wool sweaters) and playing traditional pan-pipe Andean music. Colloredo-Mansfeld examines how economic success has influenced the Indians' craft traditions, social networks, and consumption patterns. As the Indians have become wealthy, class and ethnic divisions have emerged in local communities. He expertly explores how the Indians have negotiated these local and global interactions. One of the most fascinating aspects of this book is the pen and ink drawings which accompany the text. He describes how while living in Otavalo conducting the research for this book his act of drawing led to "a more complex relationship among observed, observer, and those observing the observer" (p. 50). It reversed power relations and opened up intimate opportunities for him to become a more active member of the community, which has resulted in a more complex and nuanced study of the community.

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Career Creativity

Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Careers are changing-a simple linear development is now rare. People need to be creative about their careers, and society needs to generate creativity from its work arrangements. Many believe that the so-called creative industries (media, high-tech, IT, etc.) offer a model for likely working patterns and career development in the future. In this book leading experts from ten countries look at the dual meaning of Career Creativity to explore both the creativity in people's career behavior and the concomitant creative development of the institutions of work and society. The book's four sections address the observation of creative careers, the enactment of careers within the social structure, the shape of careers in what have traditionally been seen as creative industries, and the role that careers play in the creation of industries. The chapters cover a diverse range of issues and perspectives such as knowledge-intensive workers, paths to creativity, the career metaphor, transformation and adversity in creative lives, the pursuit of international assignments, and the consequences of career mobility. They draw from a number of different employment sectors including high-technology, craft work, film-making, country music, biotechnology, and open-source software.

Dialectical Anthropology: Essays in Honor of Stanley Diamond : The Politics of Culture and Creativity : A Critique of Civilization

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Dialectical Anthropology: Essays in Honor of Stanley Diamond : The Politics of Culture and Creativity : A Critique of Civilization

Manufacturer: Univ Pr of Florida
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Language, Charisma, and Creativity: Ritual Life in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal

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Language, Charisma, and Creativity: Ritual Life in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
Thomas J. Csordas
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312294212

Book Description

Thomas Csordas's eloquent analysis of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal answers one of the primary callings of anthropology: to stimulate critical reflection by making the exotic seem familiar and the familiar appear strange. Csordas describes the movement's internal diversity and traces its development and expansion across 30 years. He offers insights into the contemporary nature of rationality, the transformation of space and time in Charismatic daily life, gender discipline, the blurring of boundaries between ritual and everyday life, the sense of community forged through shared ritual participation, and the creativity of language and metaphor in prophetic utterance. Charisma, Csordas proposes, is a collective self-process, located not in the personality of a leader, but in the rhetorical resources mobilized by participants in ritual performance. His examination of ritual language and ritual performance illuminates this theory in relation to the postmodern condition of culture.

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