Free Culture Swarthmore

I know it’s not necessarily news every time I write a column, but as Gavin Baker at our UFlorida chapter likes to say, “If you don’t blog it, it didn’t happen!” So check out my latest article, Movie industry too strict on DVD imports, and learn how a simple martials arts movie club has difficulties with copyrights.

UPDATE: An e-mail from Tom in Madison, WI, reads:

I just read your article from a link on kungfucinema.com (the best website on martial arts film genre). Check out this [Wired News article, Film Fans Befuddled by Copyright….]

It sounds like you’re talking about a different issue than the above article, but I thought you might find it interesting anyway.

If you want to get your hands on the uncut, unedited version of the masterpiece “Fist of Legend”, go to kungfumovies.net. Search by Jet Li, then select “Fist of Legend” (DVD) (Chinese). That’s the one. Its all code (0) NTSC, original language track (Jet Li’s voice), perfect picture. The menus are in Chinese, though.

While researching my latest column in the Swarthmore Phoenix, Copyright laws impede theater, I was surprised to discover that our theater department at Swarthmore has dealt with copyright problems multiple times in the past, and that as a result the professors are well aware of the threat which excessive copyright control can pose to artistic freedom.

The extent of the Beckett estate’s control over future productions is absurd, copyright wasn’t meant to prevent reinterpretations of past works. My understanding is that, according to the Beckett estate, you cannot get creative with the casting, you have to stick to the stage directions which call for white males. Does this mean that you can’t perform “Waiting for Godot” at schools in Africa, or China? What about half-white males, or people in drag, or trans-gendered people? It’s ridiculous, and I hope that we can work with the theater department to bring awareness of the problem to our fellow students.