Waste-Book

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 10:49:00 -0800

The College Art Association recently released a Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, which you can read here. It's already gotten some attention & I imagine it will get a lot more. On the whole, I'm a fan of the best practices codes promoted by Peter Jaszi & Patricia Aufderheide. They tend to provide several helpful functions, including identifying social norms, providing fair use heuristics for participants in a field of creative work, and staking out prima facie fair uses in a particular field. Unfortunately, I'm not sure this Code will be as useful as some of the others. Saying that "artists should avoid uses of existing copyrighted material that do not generate new artistic meaning" and "the use of preexisting work ... should be justified by the artistic objective" isn't terribly helpful, or really anything more than a restatement of Section 107 of the Copyright Act.

However, I'm inclined to think that Jaszi & Aufderheide aren't to blame. The strength & weakness of codes of fair use (and other similar codes) is that they are intended to synthesize existing social norms. That is a very effective strategy when (reasonably?) well-defined social norms exist. But my reading of this new Code is that it's inability to provide clear guidance reflects a fundamental lack of agreement on social norms relating to copying and other uses of existing material, among visual artists. A cynic might suggest that this lack of agreement further reflects a certain tendency toward hypocrisy among visual artists, who can readily rationalize their own copying, but object to copying by others. More specifically, there are many nesting insider & outsider norms, so "ethical fair use" in the visual arts tends to reflect relational norms, more than objective ones.

WTC Panorama

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:30:00 -0800

WTC Panorama (2009) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

I bought this scrolling panorama for $2 on the day after Xmas at the mall outside of Troy, New York. Monster sale & I'd been coveting it for awhile. A grimly lovely slice of anachronism.

Cooper's Hawk

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:37:00 -0700

Cooper's Hawk (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of a Cooper's Hawk on a falconer's perch in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Reciprocal Motion

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:30:00 -0700

Reciprocal Motion (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of hot dogs on the rollers at the gas station.

Seamless Web

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:28:00 -0700

Seamless Web (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video from a window in my mother's house. I went home to Santa Rosa for her last few days. This spider stood guard & held on, just like she did.

Mermaid

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:25:00 -0700

Mermaid (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of the mermaid fountain in the rinky-dink shopping center near my mother's house in Santa Rosa. The statue has gotten just a bit mangier every year.

Omu's Nuts

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:21:00 -0700

Omu's Nuts (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of my brother Michael making candied almonds the way my grandmother did. It's a secret, so don't ask.

Camera Obscura

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:14:00 -0700

Camera Obscura (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent 1 minute.

Lumiere video of the Camera Obscura behind the Cliff House, arguably the most perfect attraction to ever exist. Simple, sublime, ageless.

Summer Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:36:00 -0700

Summer Storm (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of a summer thunderstorm in Troy, New York.

Kaaterskill

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:55:00 -0700

Kaaterskill (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of Kaaterskill falls, halfway up.

10 Center

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:05:00 -0700

10 Center (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of the bar in a Newburyport, Massachusetts restaurant.

Pianoman

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:38:00 -0700

Pianoman (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of piano busker on Father Demo Square in Greenwich Village.

Arboretum

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Tue, 8 Jul 2008 00:32:00 -0700

Arboretum (2008) by Brian L. Frye & Andrea Scott; video, color, silent, 2 minutes.
During the Flaherty Film Seminar at Colgate University, I lent Andie Scott my Vidster. She returned it well-used. These are selections from what she recorded.

Mixologist

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Fri, 4 Jul 2008 23:27:00 -0700

Mixologist (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of Pablo de Ocampo mixing cocktails at the Flaherty Film Seminar at Colgate University.

Board Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Fri, 4 Jul 2008 23:17:00 -0700

Board Meeting (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of Flaherty Film Seminar board meeting at Colgate University.

Freakshow

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:52:00 -0700

Freakshow (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 20 seconds.

Lumiere video of the Mechanical Museum's Monster Machine in action.

Sutro

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:23:00 -0700

Sutro (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of the San Francisco shore at the ruins of the Sutro Baths.

Lemon Drop

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:03:00 -0700

Lemon Drop (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of life & its discontents. A drink & a kiss makes it all worthwhile.

Cliff House

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:38:00 -0700

Cliff House (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of Sharon on her cell, contemplating the ineffable.

Electric Boogie

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sun, 8 Jun 2008 09:48:00 -0700

Electric Boogie (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 30 seconds.

Lumiere video of flapper dancing on Governor's Island.

Operators

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sun, 8 Jun 2008 09:42:00 -0700

Operators (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of visitors "playing the building" with David Byrne.

Cupcake

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sun, 8 Jun 2008 08:54:00 -0700

Cupcake (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of children spying on their favorite treats.

Storm King

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sun, 8 Jun 2008 08:42:00 -0700

Storm King (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of kinetic sculpture at Storm King, spinning in the wind before the rain, camera choking on dead batteries.

Ferris

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Sun, 8 Jun 2008 08:23:00 -0700

Ferris (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of a rinky dink ferris wheel at a Chelsea street fair, camera choking on dead batteries.

Miss Olson

noreply@blogger.com (Brianlfrye) — Tue, 6 May 2008 00:32:00 -0700

Miss Olson (2008) by Brian L. Frye; video, color, silent, 1 minute.

Lumiere video of Lizzie Olson playing the newsreader at Odessa Diner.