I'm sure I'm violating some copyright law in posting this so let me say clearly this is from The Boston Herald. I believe this might be of interest to the Native American flute community as we create music, art, photos and many other things that might fall prey to this pending bill. There is also some links at the bottom for more information about this.
-Scott August
Artist group protests `orphan' copyright bill
By DAVID WILDMAN -- The Boston Herald , May 22, 2008 Thursday ALL EDITIONS
The Orphan Works Act seems innocuous enough: a federal bill designed to help museums and libraries use works of art if the creators are unknown, something they can't do under current copyright law.
Don't believe it, says a group of Massachusetts-based artist organizations and volunteer lawyers. They claim the bill now sailing through the House and Senate will radically restructure copyright law and infringe artists' rights.
``What they are doing is, in effect, reversing the order of copyright law,'' said Brad Holland of the Marshfield-based Illustrators Partnership of America. ``This bill shifts the presumption of ownership from the creator to the public.''
The bill was originally devised to help museums, libraries and documentary filmmakers access images and artworks whose author is unknown. For example, a museum with a collection of Depression-era photos could not put it on their Web site under current copyright law without getting permission from each of the photographers, which would be nearly impossible.
The Orphan Works Act solves this problem, but goes much further. It allows any work of art to be used for free by anyone who files notice that they are conducting a ``diligent search'' for the creator. It also calls for the creation of a privately run database where artists must register their work or run the risk of having it declared ``orphan.''
``It's like killing a mosquito with a machine gun,'' said Jim Grace of Boston's Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. ``I think it's being driven by commercial interests.''
Under this bill, artists would have to register their works for a fee to receive copyright protection that is now free. The database could be run by an Internet company such as Google (one of the bill's backers), which would stand to make a huge profit.
Bill co-sponsor Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) declined to comment but released a statement: ``We have worked to strike the right balance to protect the interests of copyright owners and potential users of orphan works.''
``That's bull,'' said Cynthia Turner of the Illustrators Partnership. ``If they really wanted to create orphan works legislation to do what (Leahy) says, they could bring in new, spehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifcial, very defined uses. Latitude could be allowed in using works where the copyright owner couldn't be located or identified.''
In response to the outcry against the bill, U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Quincy) wants to give artists more of a say.
``It's been a while since we've heard from that many people from the artists community,'' said Mark Forest, Delahunt's chief of staff. ``If they're concerned, we're concerned.''
Contact your Rep Tell them you are against the Orphan copyright bill. You can email them or better yet, call them!
LINKS
nikondigital.org
arstechnica.com
Copyright Clearance Center
U.S. Copyright Office page
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
New Age Reporter review of Lost Canyons
Bill Binkelman reviewed Lost Canyons for New Age Reporter and we thought we'd like to share it with you...
"It alarms me that an artist of Scott August's caliber managed to release five recordings (his sixth is coming very soon) and I have only now heard his music. Guess I'm not such an icon in the industry after all, am I? I named this to my best of 2007 list, but it's even better than that. I'd place it in my top ten for Native-influenced fusion music, period. Yeah, high praise, but after playing this album at least ten times prior to writing this review, I'm sure it belongs there.
August plays way too many specific instruments to recount here, but among them are flutes (primarily the Anasazi flute which this recording seems to pay tribute to), piano, percussion, guitars, ethnic instruments such as the kalimba gamelan, and "textures" which I take to mean the application of synthesizers in assorted permutations. In this last aspect, August should give lessons to others as his dexterous superb blending of synths adds just the right amount to any song on which it's featured. Never too over the top yet also not so subtle as to make the listener question whether anything has been added at all. He's also an amazing percussionist across the full spectrum of the drums and other instruments which he uses on the CD.
Variety is the catch word here, as Lost Canyons contains everything from the plaintive beauty of the opening "Morning Star" (Anasazi flute, alabaster chimes and textures, the latter two coming into play later in the song) to the lively "Raven Dance" which intermixes percussion from just about every continent with guitar, piano and Tiger Maple flute. And those are just the first two songs on the album"
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© Cedar Mesa Music
"It alarms me that an artist of Scott August's caliber managed to release five recordings (his sixth is coming very soon) and I have only now heard his music. Guess I'm not such an icon in the industry after all, am I? I named this to my best of 2007 list, but it's even better than that. I'd place it in my top ten for Native-influenced fusion music, period. Yeah, high praise, but after playing this album at least ten times prior to writing this review, I'm sure it belongs there.
August plays way too many specific instruments to recount here, but among them are flutes (primarily the Anasazi flute which this recording seems to pay tribute to), piano, percussion, guitars, ethnic instruments such as the kalimba gamelan, and "textures" which I take to mean the application of synthesizers in assorted permutations. In this last aspect, August should give lessons to others as his dexterous superb blending of synths adds just the right amount to any song on which it's featured. Never too over the top yet also not so subtle as to make the listener question whether anything has been added at all. He's also an amazing percussionist across the full spectrum of the drums and other instruments which he uses on the CD.
Variety is the catch word here, as Lost Canyons contains everything from the plaintive beauty of the opening "Morning Star" (Anasazi flute, alabaster chimes and textures, the latter two coming into play later in the song) to the lively "Raven Dance" which intermixes percussion from just about every continent with guitar, piano and Tiger Maple flute. And those are just the first two songs on the album"
Post continues here
© Cedar Mesa Music
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Spring Gathering Photos...for real
Thanks to Denise Halliburton I now have photos from the Spring Gathering in Georgetown.
The 2nd annual "Spring Gathering" sponsored by the NCFC NoNahme Clan Clan was April 26th, 2008. Lew Price worked hard to make this year's festival a success and succeeded with flying colors. Unlike the first festival the weather was great! Warm clear skies and no rain. There was a large turnout of people, flute makers and flutes players.
Post continues here
The 2nd annual "Spring Gathering" sponsored by the NCFC NoNahme Clan Clan was April 26th, 2008. Lew Price worked hard to make this year's festival a success and succeeded with flying colors. Unlike the first festival the weather was great! Warm clear skies and no rain. There was a large turnout of people, flute makers and flutes players.
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Saturday, May 03, 2008
Lost Canyons #2 on Echoes Top 25
Cedar Mesa Music is proud to announce that Lost Canyons hit #2 on the Echoes Top 25 playlist for April 2008. Echoes is one of the largest syndicated New Age radio programs in the nation heard on 130 stations.
Lost Canyons has also been in the top five of the New Age Reporter playlist for the last three months. You can read more reviews or listen to samples from Lost Canyons on the Cedar Mesa Music website.
Back to Cedar Mesa Music News
Lost Canyons has also been in the top five of the New Age Reporter playlist for the last three months. You can read more reviews or listen to samples from Lost Canyons on the Cedar Mesa Music website.
Back to Cedar Mesa Music News
Spring Gathering Photos...sort of
I've posted some notes and photos from the Spring Gathering in Georgetown last weekend. During the festival I was too busy teaching workshops and performing to take photos but after my Sunday workshop I went out with some friends to see the surrounding area. Georgetown is just up the road from where gold was discovered in California in 1848 and there are lot of wineries in the area, being one of the oldest wine growing regions in the state.
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