A Sample of Fair Use

Klinkowitz continuedfrom previous page------------- '"Blessed are the merciful' in a courtroom?" Vonnegut asks. '"Blessed are the peacemakers' in the Pentagon? Give me a break!" As for positives, they can be found all around us, such as in the joy of putting aside the computer and typing a letter, buying a stamp and envelope, and dropping it in the mailbox, "the giant blue bullfrog" that says '"Ribbit'" when its door swings shut. "And I go home," the author notes, having had "one hell of a good time." As for the alternative, "fellectronic communities build nothing. You wind up with nothing . We are dancing animals." A larger philosophy America! "BvSw" for all this? How about simple humanism, Vonnegut suggests. As opposed to the ridiculous guessing after absolutes that our government tries to pass off as leadership, "fw]e humanists serve as best we can the only abstraction with which we have any real familiarity, which is our community." And so the grand old man of American letters soldiers on, well beyond the most extreme expectations of service. Why does he do it? These essays, like the silk-screened posters he produces with artist Joe Petro III, give him a reason for living, a way to be of use. Call them his Beatitudes, his Sermon on the Mount from East 48th Street in New York. People still listen. Jerome Klinkowitz teaches at the University of Northern Iowa. His recent books include The Vonnegut Effect (University of South Carolina Press) and, with Julie Huffman-Klinkowitz, The Enchanted Quest of Dana and Ginger Lamb (University Press ofMississippi). A Sample of Fair Use Davis Schneiderman Freedom of Expression®: overzealous copyright bozos and Other Enemdîs of Creativity Kembrew McLeod Doubleday http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/ 384 pages; cloth, $24.95 An enticing descendant of Naomi Klein's enormously engaging trade book No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies (2000) and the current Michael Moore/AI Franken stable of left-leaning humor diatribes, media prankster and University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod's Freedom ofExpression9 : Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies ofCreativity wants to appeal to the curious Barnes & Noble-browsing hipster while nodding to the more academic-oriented market. The book succeeds wildly on the first count, exploring the complex interconnections between genetic coding and patenting, bioprospecting and the exploitation of non-Western cultures, music sampling and the varied practices of hip-hop, the protected status of songs such as "Happy Birthday to You," media pranks (including McLeod's infamous trademark ofthe phrase "Freedom ofExpression®"), the surrealist and Dada traditions, Barbie blender art and Barbie/Karen Carpenter art, the literary appropriations of modernist poet Marianne Moore, Vanna White suing a robot look-alike for infringement, and, most importantly, the brave counter-discourses of organizations such as Illegal Art and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)-to list but a small sampling . Given the provocation ofhis subtitle, McLeod is ultimately more optimistic than many ofhis purely academic peers, noting that "[a]nyone with basic computer-programming skills and an imagination can potentially alter the habits of millions," and that the freedom to respond to the media mélange swirling around us, and (at times) choking our orifices, "is essential for the survival of a robust democracy." McLeod stresses that big money can sometimes be defeated by healthy doses ofmoxie andperseverance. From this confidence springs the book's most important contribution to intellectual property debate : a "how-to" sensibility that encourages artists to exercise the legal doctrine of "fair-use," the right to quote and sample from copyright protected works under certain circumstances. One ofmany examples: rapper Ghostface Killah's transformation of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" into an ode to marijuana, with appearances from a bevy of cartoon characters including such corporate-protected animals as Porky Pig, Kermit the Frog, and Tom and Jerry, engaging in "unspeakable acts." Punk rock mainstay Joey Ramone, applying an amphetamine -inspired speed boost to a cover version ofthe Armstrong classic, had only to pay a set fee for the privilege to record (in a way arguably very different from the original), but Ghostface Killah had to defend his right to transform in court. The lessons McLeod takes from "fair use...