Comments on: Ani DiFranco: copyright in an open source culture

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:57:23 +0000

Wouldn’t your use of the lyrics be covered under fair use?

By: boyhowdy

boyhowdy — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:04:33 +0000

Unfortunately, it seems Ani’s people don’t understand how copyright law works, either.

I just received a takedown notice after posting her COVER of Pete Seeger’s song My Name Is Lisa Kalvelage on my blog. Last I checked, however, performances could not be copyrighted; only compositions. And unlike Ani, Pete is known for sharing his work, like good folkies do.

By: Convergence Culture Consortium (C3@MIT)

Convergence Culture Consortium (C3@MIT) — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:51:25 +0000

C3 Writing on Copyright and Fair Use

Joshua Green and I were sitting in his office yesterday, talking about copyright issues and how they relate to our own upcoming thoughts about a new environment of spreadable media, when the conversation shifted to fair use issues surrounding these…

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:35:07 +0000

Or, maybe she had other reasons entirely for not letting you publish her lyrics. Maybe the point is that that is her right as a private citizen to say yes or to say no. This is nothing but a contrived, polite polemic. You pretty much give two reasons why she could refuse you, either it’s simply principle or she’s aging.

Hmm, maybe there are more than two reasons? Maybe she thought you seemed bitter, begrudging, and demanding, and simply didn’t want to deal with you? You give lengthy opinions about Ani and your tiring “obligations.” Yet you give nothing of her reasoning or response, except that you were rejected. Well, for all we know maybe you did something to piss this righteous babe off! There is obviously more than one side to this story, bub.

By: Virginia Postrel

Virginia Postrel — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:11:13 +0000

Were you actually refused permission? Or was there no response? Did you try going through ASCAP?

By: Grant

Grant — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:04:47 +0000

Everyone has been gallant in reply. But I think none of these defenses applies. Yes, DiFranco may be unhappy with my use of the term feminism, but surely that’s a quibble. Her music shows no such post-modernist nicety and uses language roundly and robustly. Furthermore, this is a book from a university press that wants to quote a handful of words. Permission for this right is being requested and would be made explicit. It’s hard to see how this can be seen a risk to copyright. And finally, the book is not a marketing book. It’s anthropology and anthropology only, so Rob’s query doesn’t seem to apply either. DiFranco has stood against corporate narrowness and nervousness. It hardly seem fair that she should practice what she preaches against. Last point: I think the open source culture notion does apply. After all, DiFranco is a champion that prevailing cultural codes not be allowed to prevail, that the individual should have the right to intercede. I don’t think this is too metaphorical of me. As a fan of DiFranco’s music, I think I can say with confidence that it would not be too metaphorical of her. Thanks to everyone for their comments. Grant

By: Convergence Culture Consortium (C3@MIT)

Convergence Culture Consortium (C3@MIT) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:18:06 +0000

C3 Writing on Copyright and Fair Use

By: rw

rw — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:27:28 +0000

Is copyright control/open source/etc really the right framework here?

Maybe she didn’t want her words quoted because she — or her people — had some kind of issue with the actual book? I don’t know what the book is, but if she (or her people) perceived as a business/marketing book, maybe they didn’t want to be seen as somehow endorsing it?

By: Eric Nehrlich

Eric Nehrlich — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 22:36:06 +0000

I think she’s been burned by being too sharing in the past. I seem to recall her mentioning at one of her concerts that she’d been asked by some girl for the performance rights to 32 Flavors, and said “Sure, why not?”, figuring that it was a local performer. Next thing DiFranco knew, that girl was on the radio taking credit for DiFranco’s song, as she was backed by one of the music labels who had the muscle to get airplay. I’d imagine it doesn’t take too many incidents of that sort before one gets wary about these sorts of requests.

By: debbie millman

debbie millman — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:57:11 +0000

Wow, I am really shocked. Shocked! Jamie, she is an American phenomenon, and she is truly one of the most gifted singer/songwriters of the last thirty years. Frankly, I put her in the same category as Joni Mitchell in regard to talent and versatility.

Several months ago I posted a video on my blog from YouTube featuring DiFranco performing spoken word poetry on an episode of Def Jam. After several weeks, I went back to view it again, and POOF! it was gone. I guess her IP people got to YouTube as well. I highly doubt it was the Def Jam folks given how many other Def Jam vids are still up.

I can’t imagine why DiFranco won’t allow her work to be shared. It is the exact opposite of what I’d expect from her. In fact, given her stance against labels, I would have thought she’d be a proponent of new media.

Perhaps she objected to the term “feminist”? From what I’ve read about her and know of her work, I understand she is perplexed by verbal labels as well. Listen to the song “Little Plastic Castles” from the same-titled CD for a POV.