New US "College Art" guidelines on fair use seek wider open use of photos

[Robin Rowland]

Photographers, graphic artists and other groups in the United States are raising objections to wide open "fair use" practices advocated in a recent report by the US College Art Association.

This was passed on to me by a graphic arts friend who is aware of my aboriginal copyright project, but it turns out the lead in taking on the College Art Association is the NPPA, and so far I haven't seen anything from the NPPA in their newsletter.

From the Graphic Arts association
Guild Joins Organizations in Protesting the “Code of Best Practices in Fair Use”
https://graphicartistsguild.org/news/code-of-best-practices-in-fair-use

Specifically, the letter contests a major conclusion of the study, that “copyright acts primarily as a barrier, encouraging self-censorship; and that artists are in an adversarial relationship with the marketplace.”

The NPPA letter as linked to from Graphic Arts
https://graphicartistsguild.org/general/CAABestPracticesLetter_03-12-15.pdf

I've done a quick read of the report itself and here's a quote

Although members of the community may rely on fair use in some instances, they may self-censor in others, due to confusion, doubt, and misinformation about fair use, leading them to over-rely on permissions. (This is in contrast to self-censorship due to specific,non-copyright-related circumstances, such as a personal relationship with an artist.)

It's part of the overall attitude that a "permission society" is bad and here says you can ripoff someone, unless you know them.

You can download the CAA guidelines here http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/fair-use/best-practices-fair-use-visual-arts.pdf

[Don Denton]

What is your aboriginal copyright project about and how does it/or does it relate to photography?

[David Buzzard]

I guess if Kanye West can become a superstar by rapping atonally over someone else's music, why shouldn't the same thing apply to other forms of art.

Also, you would think that art professors would want to be promoting their students to create original work, rather than cutting up other people's work.