Who Owns This Image? More on Appropriation and the CAA Report

An interesting overview of the Cariou-Prince case and the latest CAA report on fair use by The New Yorker’s Ben Mauk. I’m quoted at length.

I’d only like to add one thought of mine regarding “permission culture” that was not addressed in the article. One aspect of “permission culture” I don’t get is why we (artists) don’t have a problem buying materials (wood, paper, etc.), equipment (computers, power tools, etc.), and renting studio spaces – for good amounts of money – and yet we expect content to be made available for free, regardless of use and intent.

This is not to say that artists should always pay for content – that’s what fair use is for. The problem, of course, is that some people out there want a world where artists – and only artists – can appropriate for any reason regardless of the fair use doctrine. I don’t really see that happening.