Archive:Visual artists flier

Protect your artistic freedom!

The Free Culture Movement

As artists, we understand that


 * Art is not created in a vacuum.
 * All that we create is in some way inspired by that which has come before.
 * To create art that is relevant, we must have the ability to use distinctive elements of our culture.

Unfortunately, copyright law is increasingly being used to stifle meaningful artistic works. Consider recent cases such as that of Tom Forsythe, a photographer from Utah, who spent five years fighting a lawsuit from Mattel after creating a series of photographs involving Barbies. Or Kieron Dwyer, who designed a parody of the Starbucks logo, lost a lawsuit Starbucks brought against him, and is now prohibited from displaying his work to the public.

LetÃ¯Â¿Â½s preserve our right to express the way we see the world around us. LetÃ¯Â¿Â½s protect our right to derive new, distinctive works based on the creations of others. LetÃ¯Â¿Â½s make sure that Ã¯Â¿Â½fair use rightsÃ¯Â¿Â½ donÃ¯Â¿Â½t become the right to hire a lawyer. LetÃ¯Â¿Â½s make sure that art doesn't become only for those who can afford the legal fees.

For 225 years, American culture has thrived by letting people borrow, adapt, share, and build on older works. Now, intellectual property extremists are threatening the future of artÃ¯Â¿Â½we must join together now to preserve our freedom of expression.

'''Join the Free Culture movement! '''

Join your local campus organization, take part in our C3 campaign, and check out www.freeculture.org www.creativecommons.org www.barbieinablender.org www.illegalart.org