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Mind the gap
Shop talk What he learned in the newsroom Mr. Boffo lays an eggcorn Curse of the mummy's tummy More in Word Watch  |
« Boston < Canada, Ireland | Main | Get thee to a desk, Scooter » Tuesday, March 6, 2007Steal this blog entryI've finally read the Lethem essay, much raved about on Brainiac, and I agree it's interesting, provocative, and clever. But these euphoric pieces on the absurdity of "owning" cultural work always put my teeth slightly on edge, partly, I guess, because as a freelancer I occasionally have to chase down people who reprint ("creatively re-appropriate"? "reinscribe and recontextualize"?) my work without paying for it. I know: great artists steal. But I still want my piddling reprint fee. This unfortunate but widely reported story is a timely reminder to journalists that, at least so far, newspaper editors aren't quite as into the whole cultural-property "gift economy" thing as Lethem is. College professors, too, I suspect, will not buy the "originality is overrated" argument when they call you into their office to discuss that brazenly cut-and-pasted term paper of yours. ("But professor, you're beholden to a discredited paradigm ...") I think the hard thinking begins when you have to theorize the distinction between praise-worthy and condemnation-worthy acts of cultural borrowing -- but Lethem just punts on that question. But yes, Disney should give up Mickey already, and I like "Love and Theft" -- though not nearly as much as "Time Out of Mind."  Posted by Christopher Shea at 11:12 PM
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