Jan 15 2021 - That Darned Public Domain

 

What would be F. Scott Fitzgerald's reaction to this? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel “The Great Gatsby” is now in the U.S. public domain, meaning writers can mine the characters and plot for their own purposes without having to ask permission. The N.Y. Times says: Expect new adaptations — including a graphic novel and a zombie version. This is the famous last line of the novel:     What else to expect?  “The Gay Gatsby,” by B.A. Baker, and, in the tradition of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” “The Great Gatsby Undead,” by Kristen Briggs. (From the promotional copy: “Gatsby doesn’t seem to eat anything, and has an aversion to silver, garlic and the sun, but good friends are hard to come by.”) In the U.S. anything that is more than 95 years old enters the public domain - (works of art not people).  What else entered the public domain on January 1st 2021?  Ernest Hemingway’s "In Our Time", and Franz Kafka’s "The Trial" (in the original German), silent films featuring Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, and music ranging from the jazz standard "Sweet Georgia Brown" to songs by Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, W.C. Handy, and Fats Waller. See a fuller list HERE. Canadian public domain is life plus fifty years, compared to many other countries where it is life plus 70 years (beyond the death of the creator). The U.S. has varying copyright time periods because of changing laws.  Here is yesterday's progress on the multiple exposure technique.  The first image is Niagara Falls' Dogwoods in the Spring, then the Charles Daly Park Weeping Willow in the Autumn,  and the big November snow fall, Vineland.  The last image was taken yesterday - looking out the window at the lilac stems towards the house next door.  In this image, one can clearly see the lacey effect of the multiple exposures. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Taking Pictures of Other People's Art

Abstracting Art Copyright and artistic ownership is a timely topic.  I see my Marvelling the Mushroom pictures in quite a few places without indication that I am the artist.  So when I take a picture of someone else's art, I think about why I am doing it and what I might do with the picture.

So just taking pictures of another artist's work wouldn't be represented as my work. Artists do use other people's photographs to create watercolour and acrylic painting versions. But I think the reverse is a different circumstance.  So when I saw the original subjects of today's pictures I was so impressed with the shapes and colour combinations that I knew I would have to do something to significantly change them. Today's images are my own versions using Topaz Impressions.  We have an extreme cold warning for Southern Ontario.  Environment Canada says that bitterly cold arctic air combined with strong and gusty northwest winds will take us to minus 30 - 35 this morning.  I wondered if this is a 2015 polar vortex and found this quote from the Huntington Post: "An eddy of the polar vortex will add to the potency of the surface cold front, thus creating a deep layer of bitterly cold air."