Re: Problems with Karma International Gallery, Zurich

From: Beverly O'Neill (email suppressed)
Date: Sat Feb 06 2010 - 15:34:12 PST


Dear Jeff, Thank you for clarifying the National Film Preservation Foundation's copyright authority about public performance rights. Gratifying to know that this factored into the NFPF's definition of "All rights reserved". This gives the NFPF and individual artists the leverage to cite organizations who violate these terms of usage. Perhaps the NFPF and all the artists shown at Karma without legal autthorization should put the gallery on notice. You're right Jeff, only personal vigilance helps safeguard the haphazard misuses of filmmakers work. Having legal recourse though helps enormously when we discover those rip-offs.
 
Thanks for the kind words about Pat's DVD project. Expect to have many works available within the next two months. He finally got a website, "Pat O'Neill Lookout Mountain Film" and the release date will appear there.

Again, thanks for your response
Beverly O'Neill

> Dear Beverly,
>
> If this gallery did screen from the Treasures IV DVD, as it seems they
> did, then that is not legal. They need permission from the NFPF to
> use the Treasures IV set in a public setting as well as permission
> from the artist or rightsholder (classroom use, however, is protected
> by fair use). As is the case with almost any DVD, buying the
> Treasures set does not give one public performance rights. When
> organizations contact the NFPF about showing films from this set, we
> let them know where they can rent a print or put them in touch with
> the archive that preserved the film or artist depending on the case.
>
> Excited to hear about Pat's DVD project. I wish I knew an easy way to
> stop organizations from screening the work without permission, but at
> this time the best way I can see is being as diligent as Cindy in
> keeping track of how and where the work is being used. If we had
> known about this show ahead of time, the NFPF would also have
> contacted them about it. We do try to monitor these things and
> prevent them from happening without permission from the artist.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeff Lambert
>
> On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 5:00 PM, Beverly O'Neill <email suppressed> wrote:
>> Dear Cindy, I found the Karma program on facebook with Martin Jaggi credited for curation when he had merely selected works from both the Unseen Cinema and Treasures of the Avant Garde DVD box sets. Unseen Cinema has the FBI warning at the head of each disc so the gallery infringed upon those copyright restrictions. The Treasures anthology doesn't follow suit, each disc begins with the opening film's title. The National Film Preservation Foundation which produced the Treasures has a copyright on each DVD disc with "All rights reserved". Does that mean Karma Gallery has legal exposure for showing that work publicly without permission? When the NFPF first selected works for this anthology the question about artist's rights arose. Each artist does retain ownership of his/her piece and the NFPF has control of individual work exclusively within the context of the anthology. Does the NFPF's "rights reserved" mean that galleries, museums, etc cannot show the work fr!
 o!
> m !
>> the set?
>>
>> Another big question: how to copyright individual artists' DVDs with some real muscle. What language should appear in the opening sequence that offers artists recourse when a work is pirated?
>>
>> Beverly O'Neill
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Feb 4, 2010, at 11:18 AM, C Keefer wrote:
>>
>>> Is anyone else having problems with Karma International Gallery, Zurich and their "Kino Karma" series, specifically, showing artists' work from DVDs without permission, and specifically AGAINST artist's stated wishes? They do not respond despite numerous messages.
>>>
>>> Karma International, Zurich run by
>>> Marina Leuenberger and Karolina Dankow
>>>
>>> It's disgusting when a gallery ignores a living artist's instructions and wishes. Another sleazy incident of the art world abusing experimental filmmakers' works?
>>>
>>> Also, can anyone confirm, did they contact Anthology and others and receive permission to screen from the Unseen Cinema set in their gallery?
>>>
>>> Also wondering if Marilyn Brakhage and Pat O'Neill have given permission for their works to be screened there?
>>>
>>> Cindy Keefer
>>> Center for Visual Music
>>> www.centerforvisualmusic.org
>>> on behalf of Jordan Belson
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> __________________________________________________________________
>>> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>>
>>
>> __________________________________________________________________
>> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.

__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.