« Google Video opens its doors | Main | Theremin Podcast! »
April 14, 2005
Lessig and Media Outlets
from the continuing-disappointment-that-is-the-NYTIMES department
So there's a view about the file-sharing debate held by most people who don't know anything about the debate. It is a view the recording industry likes most people to hold. It is a view far from anything anyone interesting is saying.
The view - call it the uninformed stereotype (US) view - goes something like this: that there are just two sides to this debate, those who favor "piracy" and those who don't. Supporters of Grokster are people who favor piracy, and who are against artists.
On Thursday, at the NYPL, I had the extraordinarily pleasure of being on stage with Jeff Tweedy and Steven Johnson, for a discussion titled "Who Owns Culture?" The evening started with 15 minutes of me and my "powerpoint" (actually, Keynote), and then a 50 minute discussion with Tweedy and me, moderated by Johnson. There was then time for questions from the audience.
It was an extraordinary evening. I had the chance before to talk to Tweedy, so I wasn't surprised. But he was extraordinary — funny, subtle, smart about the issues, and deeply passionate. Suffice it that neither he nor I (as is obvious to anyone on this page) subscribe to, or fit, within the US view. I explicitly denounced "piracy"; Tweedy -- in context -- said nothing to support the view that people should infringe the rights of other artists.
David Carr of the New York Times was at the event. He wrote a review. Everyone I've spoken to loved the piece. I think they loved it because it was a piece printed in the Times, and we're a culture that loves attention more than accuracy.
Posted by roymond at April 14, 2005 10:13 AM