QuestionCopyright.org: Nina Paley "Sita" Interview (Highlights), 6 Nov 2008

Highlights of interview with animator Nina Paley about her award-winning feature-length film "Sita Sings The Blues" and how copyright restrictions block it from being distributed. See http://questioncopyright.org/nina_paley_sita_interview for more.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• copyright
• censorship

[sagaofbluewing]

I think the people who create an original work have the say so over how their work is used or is not used. "Stealing" is when you take or use something that is not your's without permission. Copyright does exist to protect creators, otherwise these "conglomerations" would steal original works from people, mass produce them, make money and share none of it with the creator.

[questioncopyright]

@sagaofbluewing We disagree. We advocate a different point of view (one that has been the norm for most of human history): that you get to do what you want with your copies, and other people get to do what they want with their copies. Just because I wrote a book, should I have the right to decide whether someone else can or cannot translate it, for example? If I want it kept private, and never re-used or remixed, then I shouldn't publish it.

[sagaofbluewing]

@m7steel Not true. Copyright law is set up to prevent what you're talking about. This can be and IS done with trademarks, but that's a completely different beast. You cannot copyright an idea. You can only copyright a published work which must be accessible to the general public in some form. They do not "protect" you, they give you the right to prosecute someone if they steal from you. Killing is illegal but it can't "protect" you from being killed.

[mphello]

Once one establishes these "meta-laws" (a law or general property about laws), then you acknowledge that I could support harsh copyright laws, only to be accused of violating that law itself. Of course, it is almost always the case throughout history that advocates of a particular law write that law in such a way that it will PRACTICALLY never be used against them: i.e. so that nobody could mistaken THEM of breaking that law.

[mphello]

ALL laws can only make an action illegal. There's really no such thing as a law making an action legal. e.g. "A constitutional amendment making guns legal" is equivalent to making it illegal for someone to take away your gun.

2nd: any law anyone advocates can possibly be used against them, no matter how unlikely.

e.g. I (a white person) could support making it illegal for blacks to vote. But, someone might mistake ME for a black person and arrest me for voting.

[almishti]

Anyone who doesn't feel their own humanity reflected in this movie, and doesn't at least get a little misty-eyed, must surely be dead inside. And all the religion in the world won't save you then. Lighten up.

[akshay377]

I cant even think of doing this to ur Jesus coz i also consider him to be a form of god......You have lost it....God Bless U

[xdiam0ndsx]

all i wanna know is if what inspired her to make this movie is that her ass was so whipped by her man that left her for india lol

[achilles786]

@shaniwrites first of all- ramayana took place thousands of years ago and the culture then was so conservative. It took so many years for us to progress to such a rational thinking and more open social practices. Nina Paley can talk about freedom of art and expression all she wants, but in fact she is bold only to sell her own ideas profiting herself which might contribute to art perse but hurt the people of faith. In the end everybody gets sth to talk - herself and rightwing fundamentalists

[bandparty90]

@shaniwrites You people can not think beyond hedonism even when religion and religeous sentiments are concerned. That is why your thoughts are so much naked. This is a road that many so called creative people have followed to spill out the wickedness stored in their minds into the society instead of buring that. Who would have knows this filmmaker has she not tried this work.

[bandparty90]

@shaniwrites You people can not think beyond hedonism even when religion and religeous sentiments are concerned. That is why your thoughts are so much naked.

[misatchi]

@shaniwrites THANK YOU! I'm tired of people who are Hindu getting offended by this! This coming from a hindu/buddhist practitioner in the western world, which seems to be a hard concept for some "hindu's" to believe exist. Nina used the story to connect with her real life and honestly, what more could those of us who practice the ideals ask for? I myself, as an artist know how frightening it is to speak your mind through art and I give her MAJOR props for going for it.

[SabStudiosMusic]

everyone who obtains intellectual property without proper means of payment should rot in hell because they are aiding in the loss of THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN JOBS..... this is not the democracy America is supposed to be...where we hurt fellow citizens livelihoods by being ignorant to the fact that intellectual property creation is a job and without being subsizdized one way or another will hurt OUR CULTURAL CAPITAL and that CC my friends, is WHAT MAKES AMERICA GREAT