[rumori] Request for Comments: rtmark video theft project

Steev [rumori] Request for Comments: rtmark video theft project
Sat, 27 Mar 1999 10:16:50 -0800 (PST) (00922558610, Pine.LNX.4.05.9903271009450.10043-100000atflotsam.detritus.net)



bounced to me. STTF, you're now on the list. (you should have been
already... welcome!)

my reply is at the end...

Steev Hise, Subversive Radical Hippy Hacker
steevathise.org http://www.cyborganic.com/people/steev recycled art site: http://www.detritus.net -----------------------------------------------------------------
"I have no tolerance for fools." -Voltaire
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
To: rumoriatdetritus.net
Subject: Re: [rumori] Request for Comments: rtmark video theft project

Tricky problem. On the one hand, artists charge such exorbitant amounts
for video art because it allows them to produce art, in the first place.
Miramax will not be distributing Cremaster 5. There won't be much money in
the Foreign and cable rights to Bill Viola's "Presentation". In other words, if video art is to survive, in an age of zero public funding,
seling one of a kind videos (with added value colateral, they always sell
with goodies) is the only hope for video artists.

On the other hand, a "bootlegged" video and a streaming Realvideo clip are hardly the same things. Everyone knows that a Mona Lisa keychain and the
painting in the Louvre are not one and the same. Perhaps, given the
context and the format of the "copies" being made, it's not a serious threat to the value or authenticity of the originals. Now, if he were
selling video tapes (and, again, you have to wonder, who would buy such
videos?) that would be a different story.

Best case scenario: artists decide to market their video art on the Web or
in bulk packs of $29.95 for their greatest hits. Why not. If you can rent
Flubber, then and now, why not Jane Campion?

Manuel, SttF


steev says:

I agree completely. that's exactly what i was thinking. I did understand
the project to include actually selling tapes. but if it is just
realvideo, it probably isnt as big a deal.

As for who would buy them - all sorts of poor but art-loving hipsters like
me would. If Bill Viola's works were available for $9.95 a piece from
Reel.com like "Titanic" was, I would buy them all.
But then, Bill would need an economy of scale so he could sell enough
copies to pay his rent and studio fees. meaning corporations would have to
subsidize him....

smh

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