Unlearning Copyright: Collaboration, Piracy and the Commons

In this module, we want to unlearn “copyright”, that is, a particular social construction consisting of individual authorship, stable works, audiences, personal property, and markets. Not only is this construction far from universal, rather it emerged in Europe of the 18th and 19th century, but it imposes considerable violence on practices that do not fit its categories.

For a long time, these have been primarily those rooted in non-western traditions that always had very different concepts of works of art and their social life. Today, in the digital word, the problematic construction of copyright becomes visible in the West, in day-to-day practices as well as in temporary forms of art and culture, which are based on re-use, flexible forms of authorship and abundance beyond markets.

We will start with the notion of “unlearning”, from post-colonial theory, and move back and forth between non-western and digital cultural practices.

The module will be held in English and most texts will be in English.

Tuesdays, 17:30 - 21:00, Room 5.K11

Course requirements:

Presence and contribution to discussions in class.

Presentation of text

Written Essay (1-2 pages), Deadline 12.01.2017

26.09. Introduction : Copyright Law, Unlearning and Epistemic Disobedience

Swiss Copyright law

Bundesgesetz über das Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte

Art 2: “Werke sind, unabhängig von ihrem Wert oder Zweck, geistige Schöpfungen der Literatur und Kunst, die individuellen Charakter haben.”

Art 6: “Urheber oder Urheberin ist die natürliche Person, die das Werk geschaffen hat.”

Background: History of Copyright Wikipedia

Unlearning and Epistemic Disobedience

“‘originality’ is one of the basic expectations of modern control of subjectivity” (Walter Mignolo, 2009)

Waibel, Tom (2013): „ Praktiken des Ungehorsams“, ZfK - Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften 2, S. 101–105.

Toward a De-Colonial Common Sense (Review of Walter Mignolo's “The Darker Side of Western Modernity”, 2011)

Tlostanova, M. V. und Walter Mignolo (2012): Learning to unlearn: decolonial reflections from Eurasia and the Americas, Transoceanic studies, Columbus: Ohio State University Press. READ p. 12 (last parapgrah) - 17 (first paragraph)

When Art is illegal

Good Copy Bad Copy (2007) 0:00 -11:00

03.10. Beyond Copying: The Curious Case of Louis Vitton & Uncreative Writing

Boon, Marcus (2010): In praise of copying, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. (Read: What is a copy?, S12-22, 36-40, Read Copying as Appropriation 204 - 237) (Alan) © MURAKAMI Brooklyn Art Museum, April 5–July 13, 2008 Filip Noterdaeme's protest intervention pictures of fake-fake market

Nadia Plesner:

DARFURNICA (2010)

Law Suit By Louis Vuitton (2011)

Her statement in court (2011).

Court rules in her favour (2011)

Goldsmith, Kenneth. 2011. Uncreative Writing. Managing Language in the Digital Age. New York: Columbia University Press.(https://monoskop.org/media/text/goldsmith_2011_uncreative_writing/) Read: Introduction & Chapter 5. Why Appropriation? (Mohamed)

"Awareness is critique" An interview with Kenneth Goldsmith. Spike Art Magazine, 22.08.2017

17.10. Non Western Art: Questions of authorship and Ownership. The Case of Aboriginal painting ?

Read Glaskin, Katie (2011): „Dreaming the Thread: From Ritual to Art to Property(s) Between“, in: Strang, Veronica und Mark Busse (Hrsg.): Ownership and appropriation, Oxford ; New York: Berg Publishers, S. 87–104. (Damian)

Bardi Jawi Dancers, 2009 https://youtu.be/CC5NIWQXykw

Roy Wiggan, Profile Short Street Gallery

Clip, Visit at an Art School, 2011 https://youtu.be/yTAxva6vg54

At the Waterhole, John Bulun Bulun

Read The Protection of "At The Waterhole" by John Bulun Bulun (Copyright Case 1989)

Art critic's view. Excerpt of the court documents

xiang_-_2015_-_copyleft_appropriation_art_in_china.pdf

7.11. Art, Authorship and Appropriation. Chinese Perspectives

Han, Byung-Chul (2011): Shanzai: Dekonstruktion auf Chinesisch, Berlin: Merve. (Vorbereiten (SASKIA): Kapitel 2 (Orginal), Lesen ALLE Kapitel 3 (Siegel der Musse) Vorbereiten (SOPHIA): Kapitel 4 (Kopie,)

Read Xiang, Liqing. 2015. Copyleft Appropriation Art in China. Exhibition (Aug 15-Nov 15, 2015), Shanghai: Power Station of Art. p. 38-78 (Nina, Tim)

"Brother Sharp" Meme

21. 11. Digital Commons & Abundance

Read: Felix Stalder Commons, informational (Dictionary Entry) 2017

Read: Richard Stallmann The GNU Manifesto, 1984 (James & Raffael)

Read: David Bollier Commoning as a Transformative Social Paradigm, 2015 (Nathalie, Cynthia, Daniel)

Read On the Commons: A Public Interview with Massimo De Angelis and Stavros Stavrides, e-flux 2010

[https://vimeo.com/146224655 | [UN|COMMONS: Yochai Benkler Interview]], 2015 12:00 min

5.12. Artists as Commoner

Guest: Cornelia Sollfrank

Read Sollfrank, Cornelia. 2015. “Kenneth Goldsmith’s Claim to Uncreativity.” Pp. 40–50 in No Internet – No Art. A Lunch Byte Anthology, edited by M. Bühler. Eindhoven: Onomatopee. (Ueli, Varun)

12.12. Relational Art and its Discontents

READ ALL: Nicolas Bourriaud: Relational Aesthetics, 1998 (2002). Chapter: Relational Form. s.11-24

Prepare: Claire Bischop (2004) Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics. OCTOBER 110, Fall 2004, pp. 51–79.]]

Ben Lewis: Art Safari. Is relational art an ism? (2004)

16.01. Reading the Papers

We will read and discuss the student papers