Copyright Release Party

Copyright Release Party. Original is 22" x 30" (approximately 727mm x 606mm), Pen & Ink. This piece is not being reproduced for obvious copyright reasons.

About the piece: This painting was made in protest of a growing trend in lawsuits by large mulinational corporations againsts individuals who "violate" copyright protection. While copyright protection, granted in the US constitution and upheld throughout the world, was originally intended to protect artists, authors and musicians against unauthorized reproduction of their works, it has become a tool for corporations to silence opposition and parody of their products and trademarks. Copyright laws now are more often used to silence free speach and creative parody than they are to uphold an artists right to their own work.

Not only have large corporations with deep pockets and teams of lawyers abused copyright protection in astounding attacks on free speach, but US congres extended the life of copyright to 100 years in order to protect Mickey Mouse from falling into public domain. Indeed, Corporations are not only abusing this particular law and constitutional protection, but are freely abusing their close contact with law makers in their favor, to the detriment of individuals and society as a whole.