CHINESE GOVERNMENT CHANGES ITS MIND ABOUT ART
ALFRED HICKLING, GUARDIAN - Ten years ago, Xu Zhen was the archetypal
garret-dwelling artist, scraping a living in a Shanghai apartment with
barely room to swing a cat. To prove the point, he found a cat and swung
it. The artist claims that the animal was already dead when he made the
45-minute performance video, which shows feline entrails being spattered
across the walls. But the piece established Zhen as the rising star of
the new generation of Chinese artists whose work now features in The
Real Thing, an exhibition at Tate Liverpool that is the most
comprehensive show of contemporary Chinese art ever staged in this
country. . .
In June 2006 he organized a warehouse show of 30 young artists in
Shanghai, of which the centerpiece was a video of a panda being
masturbated for artificial insemination. The show was forced to close on
its opening night.
It is, however, now quite difficult to provoke the authorities into
closing an exhibition, as the Chinese government seeks to co-opt
contemporary art to advertise the productivity and tolerance of the new
China. In 2006, the Shanghai Biennale became the first major
state-sponsored exhibition of contemporary art - even the fringe show,
entitled Fuck Off, was left to run unimpeded. . .
The U-turn in the official attitude can be gauged by the fate of
Beijing's avant-garde in the wake of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations
in 1989, when Beijing's radical artists relocated to an area beyond the
city's third ring road, known as the East Village. With no money or
conventional outlets for their work, the artists began to conduct
increasingly extreme experiments on themselves. One, Zang Huan, covered
himself in fish paste and honey and sat for several hours in a public
toilet in 100-degree heat. The piece - a comment on the fate of the poet
Ai Qing, who was forced to clean toilets during the Cultural Revolution
- provoked the police to raid the East Village and evict its
inhabitants. In 2001, the area was bulldozed to make way for a public
park. . .
The official acceptance of the avant garde is a paradox for Chinese
artists. Beijing-based critic and curator Pi Li identifies the emergence
of "a kind of official, harmless contemporary art" which leaves artists
in danger of losing their identity.
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2044421,00.html
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HOW TO RESPOND TO RIAA HARASSMENT
[Just a bit from a classic legal letter to RIAA's attorneys composed by
Attoprney Merl Ledford III of Visalia CA]
MERL LEDFORD III - It is not too late to correct your clients' (and
your law firm's) mistakes.
Mr. and Mrs. Merchant's emotional condition puts a premium on immediate
case resolution. Thus, although I generally do not make opening
legitimate offers as defense counsel, the clients' non-monetary
interests and their probability of recovering their fees and costs in
this matter (at a minimum) suggest that a defense settlement offer would
not be inappropriate. Therefore:
My clients are willing to accept dismissal of the litigation in exchange
for
1. Payment of Mr. Merchant's reasonable fees and costs including
retainer of $6,880.25. The payment represents good value considering
what your own firm's billings will have been to date and use of those
billing records as the loadstar rate for Mr. Merchant's award. . .
2. Apology on your firm's letterhead by your supervising partner for
inappropriately filing and maintaining an action against Mr. Merchant
without probable cause and for the emotional hardship that such
litigation caused; and
3. Execution of a mutual general release of all claims in my office's
usual form. The RIAA form of release I have seen will not be used. It is
my practice in these kinds of cases to require that the plaintiffs
indemnity my clients against claims by third parties as part of my
general release language. (E.g., your clients sue a site for posting
guitar tabs to copyrighted music; my client visits the site, read the
tabs, plays them on his guitar, and get sued by way of cross-claim by
the guitar tab site. . .
4. Confidentiality: It is my general practice to disfavor confidential
settlements. Under the circumstances, and so long as your clients are
prompt and candid in dealing with their mistaken, misplaced lawsuit, I
would consider a reasonable confidentiality provision. Again, quick
response, full payment, and immediate dismissal will allow
confidentiality as an option. . .
The authorized settlement offer expressed in the preceding paragraphs of
this email . . . may be accepted by signing a copy of this email and
returning it to my office by fax no later than the close of business on
Friday, March 30, 2007. . . It is the best offer that will be made in
this litigation based on the facts and circumstances as they are known
at this time. Substantial discovery, investigation, and exchange of
information remains that could substantially alter the settlement
position of the parties to the betterment of either side in ways that
cannot now be responsibly predicted. The case settlement value will,
however, trend upward the longer I have to work on it. And the emotional
distress damages for willfully filing and thereafter maintaining claims
for relief without probable cause will only increase as the matter drags
on. . .
Procedurally, we need to address how best to move the case to the Fresno
Branch so you can enjoy our new Courthouse and avoid Judge Levi's wrath
for filing in the wrong court. . .
Once the case is moved to the Fresno Branch, your clients should
consider cleaning up their complaint. The FRCP and collateral estoppel
from other RIAA law and motion matters require much greater specificity
in pleading than your clients provided in the complaint I reviewed.
Dates of the alleged downloads, which plaintiff (or affiliate) holds
which copyright to which track, etc. must be specifically pleaded and
proven. You are as familiar as I am with the results in other cases
where RIAA's general allegations have been challenged. Let's get over
that hurdle without unnecessary law and motion practice. . .
http://p2pnet.net/story/11785
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ALFRED HICKLING, GUARDIAN - Ten years ago, Xu Zhen was the archetypal
garret-dwelling artist, scraping a living in a Shanghai apartment with
barely room to swing a cat. To prove the point, he found a cat and swung
it. The artist claims that the animal was already dead when he made the
45-minute performance video, which shows feline entrails being spattered
across the walls. But the piece established Zhen as the rising star of
the new generation of Chinese artists whose work now features in The
Real Thing, an exhibition at Tate Liverpool that is the most
comprehensive show of contemporary Chinese art ever staged in this
country. . .
In June 2006 he organized a warehouse show of 30 young artists in
Shanghai, of which the centerpiece was a video of a panda being
masturbated for artificial insemination. The show was forced to close on
its opening night.
It is, however, now quite difficult to provoke the authorities into
closing an exhibition, as the Chinese government seeks to co-opt
contemporary art to advertise the productivity and tolerance of the new
China. In 2006, the Shanghai Biennale became the first major
state-sponsored exhibition of contemporary art - even the fringe show,
entitled Fuck Off, was left to run unimpeded. . .
The U-turn in the official attitude can be gauged by the fate of
Beijing's avant-garde in the wake of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations
in 1989, when Beijing's radical artists relocated to an area beyond the
city's third ring road, known as the East Village. With no money or
conventional outlets for their work, the artists began to conduct
increasingly extreme experiments on themselves. One, Zang Huan, covered
himself in fish paste and honey and sat for several hours in a public
toilet in 100-degree heat. The piece - a comment on the fate of the poet
Ai Qing, who was forced to clean toilets during the Cultural Revolution
- provoked the police to raid the East Village and evict its
inhabitants. In 2001, the area was bulldozed to make way for a public
park. . .
The official acceptance of the avant garde is a paradox for Chinese
artists. Beijing-based critic and curator Pi Li identifies the emergence
of "a kind of official, harmless contemporary art" which leaves artists
in danger of losing their identity.
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2044421,00.html
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
HOW TO RESPOND TO RIAA HARASSMENT
[Just a bit from a classic legal letter to RIAA's attorneys composed by
Attoprney Merl Ledford III of Visalia CA]
MERL LEDFORD III - It is not too late to correct your clients' (and
your law firm's) mistakes.
Mr. and Mrs. Merchant's emotional condition puts a premium on immediate
case resolution. Thus, although I generally do not make opening
legitimate offers as defense counsel, the clients' non-monetary
interests and their probability of recovering their fees and costs in
this matter (at a minimum) suggest that a defense settlement offer would
not be inappropriate. Therefore:
My clients are willing to accept dismissal of the litigation in exchange
for
1. Payment of Mr. Merchant's reasonable fees and costs including
retainer of $6,880.25. The payment represents good value considering
what your own firm's billings will have been to date and use of those
billing records as the loadstar rate for Mr. Merchant's award. . .
2. Apology on your firm's letterhead by your supervising partner for
inappropriately filing and maintaining an action against Mr. Merchant
without probable cause and for the emotional hardship that such
litigation caused; and
3. Execution of a mutual general release of all claims in my office's
usual form. The RIAA form of release I have seen will not be used. It is
my practice in these kinds of cases to require that the plaintiffs
indemnity my clients against claims by third parties as part of my
general release language. (E.g., your clients sue a site for posting
guitar tabs to copyrighted music; my client visits the site, read the
tabs, plays them on his guitar, and get sued by way of cross-claim by
the guitar tab site. . .
4. Confidentiality: It is my general practice to disfavor confidential
settlements. Under the circumstances, and so long as your clients are
prompt and candid in dealing with their mistaken, misplaced lawsuit, I
would consider a reasonable confidentiality provision. Again, quick
response, full payment, and immediate dismissal will allow
confidentiality as an option. . .
The authorized settlement offer expressed in the preceding paragraphs of
this email . . . may be accepted by signing a copy of this email and
returning it to my office by fax no later than the close of business on
Friday, March 30, 2007. . . It is the best offer that will be made in
this litigation based on the facts and circumstances as they are known
at this time. Substantial discovery, investigation, and exchange of
information remains that could substantially alter the settlement
position of the parties to the betterment of either side in ways that
cannot now be responsibly predicted. The case settlement value will,
however, trend upward the longer I have to work on it. And the emotional
distress damages for willfully filing and thereafter maintaining claims
for relief without probable cause will only increase as the matter drags
on. . .
Procedurally, we need to address how best to move the case to the Fresno
Branch so you can enjoy our new Courthouse and avoid Judge Levi's wrath
for filing in the wrong court. . .
Once the case is moved to the Fresno Branch, your clients should
consider cleaning up their complaint. The FRCP and collateral estoppel
from other RIAA law and motion matters require much greater specificity
in pleading than your clients provided in the complaint I reviewed.
Dates of the alleged downloads, which plaintiff (or affiliate) holds
which copyright to which track, etc. must be specifically pleaded and
proven. You are as familiar as I am with the results in other cases
where RIAA's general allegations have been challenged. Let's get over
that hurdle without unnecessary law and motion practice. . .
http://p2pnet.net/story/11785
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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