Julianna Yau’s blog

So much for not being in the thick of political drama. What was that about getting pulled back in?

Somehow, I find myself contacting members of parliament and being strangely excited by the possibility of an election. Although I don’t like the drama which sometimes comes from being involved, I’ve always firmly believed that complaining without action is valueless to the point of being dispicible. I’m sure that many think I’m overdoing it, but things need to get done somehow, right?

The office of my MP, Andrew Telegdi, responded to me on Wednesday, stating that “Mr. Telegdi is very concerned about the effect that this will have on our economy, the arts and culture scene and our appeal abroad.” and that “[they] will update [me] with any news we receive regarding this issue. And please keep [them] posted as well as [they] appreciate hearing concerns and/or receiving advice from an affected member of the Arts community.” I’m now looking forward to meeting with him sometime soon to discuss the impacts of C-10, the copyright legislation and the budget cuts on the arts community.

Bill Siksay has also been the first member of the Heritage committee to respond, although presumably with a form letter:

Dear Julianna,

Thank you for getting in touch with me regarding the Conservative government’s plans to cut key arts and culture programmes that assist Canadian artists, including “PromArt”. The cancellation of this important program will severely limit Canada’s international cultural presence. My New Democrat colleagues and I certainly share your concern on this issue.

The Harper Conservatives are quite simply wrong to cancel important cultural diplomacy programs that help Canadian artistic groups market and promote their work overseas. I believe that government should play a role in promoting Canadian culture overseas. The selection process for participation should not be a political decision based on the personal tastes or ideology of an individual minister. These programmes represent Canada as a whole and must have clear, transparent guidelines that ensure the best of Canadian culture – and the diversity of Canadian culture – is internationally represented.

This move comes on the heels of Bill C-10 and the Harper government’s plans to censor film in Canada that it finds “offensive”. I agree with many Canadians who feel that the Conservatives’ continued attempts to force their tastes on Canadian artists and arts organizations is deplorable. The Conservative government’s attempts to impose their ideological and moral values on Canadians and to censor artistic expression in Canada is unacceptable. My New Democrat colleagues and I have demanded that they back-off from this plan immediately.

Thank you again for contacting me on this important issue. Please be assured that I will continue to follow it closely and that New Democrats will remain actively involved in the campaign to protect artistic expression in Canada.

Sincerely yours,

Bill Siksay, MP
Burnaby-Douglas

With the possible election, the coming weeks are probably the best for getting responses from your MP and from members of committees regarding these and other issues. Get out there and show them we mean business!

Related posts

• Write to your MP about the arts budget cuts (0)
• Faceless Until October 14 (0)
• Emergency meeting TODAY on Parliament Hill re: Arts Cuts (2)
• What’s On: An Update (0)
• What scares me about the 2008 federal election (0)

Some exciting (for me, anyway) not-directly-related-to-art-but-still-kind-of-related opportunities arrived in my email today:

Social Technologies Summit: Call For Submissions — Deadline 5pm, 13 October 2008
13-16 May 2009
Manchester UK

Futuresonic’s acclaimed international conference, the Social Technologies Summit brings 500 opinion formers, futurologists, artists, researchers, technologists and scientists from the digital culture, technology and art communities together around shared issues to do with social media, society, art and the city.

Digital culture burns bright with social connectivity

Inviting proposals for talks, presentations, workshops and session themes. Submissions of innovative formats for social interaction and experimentation are encouraged.

Call For Submissions — Deadline 5pm, 13 October 2008

Download an application form / guidelines here:
downloads.futuresonic.com/social2009.zip

For further information contact
Lisa Roberts
Social Technologies Summit Programme Manager
FutureEverything
+44 161 237 9000
social09@futuresonic.com

See also — A GBP 5000 commission plus many other opportunities are available in the Futuresonic 2008 Art & EVNTS calls for submissions.
www.futuresonic.com/getinvolved

Stanford Law School Announces Center for Internet and Society and Stanford Constitutional Law Center Joint Fellowship

The Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society (CIS) and The Stanford Constitutional Law Center (CLC) announce a new joint fellowship for the study of the intersection of copyright and constitutional law. We are looking for an inaugural fellow to work with faculty and staff from both Centers on range of research and litigation projects addressing the relationship between the Constitution’s Copyright Clause, the First Amendment and the Fair Use
Doctrine.

The primary responsibility for the fellow will be to work on current CIS Fair Use Project litigation. In addition, the Fellow will also be an active part of the CIS and CLC communities, attending lectures and symposia, assisting with Center activities and working with students on related projects. The Fellowship will provide significant opportunity for the pursuit of individual research and scholarship in preparation to enter the academic teaching market. The fellowship position is offered for one year with the opportunity for renewal.

Applicant Requirements:

2-5 years of post-law school civil litigation experience with substantial experience in constitutional law (preferred) and
intellectual property (required) matters;
Excellent writing and analytic skills;
Demonstrated ability to direct litigation of impact cases; and
Demonstrated ability to work in a self-directed and entrepreneurial environment.

The position is for 12 months, with the possibility of renewal for a second twelve months. The start date is September 2008, although this may be flexible depending on the right candidates availability. Salary will be approximately $40,000 per year, with benefits.

Preferred submission deadline is September 8, 2008, however applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Applicants MUST apply online via the Stanford Jobs website at
http://jobs.stanford.edu/find_a_job.html
Search “Job number 31382″

Applications may also be submitted by email to the following address:
Gelman@stanford.edu.

For more information about the CIS and the FUP, please visit
http://www.cyberlaw.stanford.edu.

For more information about the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, please visit our website at
http://www.law.stanford.edu/program/centers/conlaw/

Related posts

• Legal Frontiers in Digital Media (0)
• Jessica Litman - Rethinking Copyright (0)
• Futuresonic conference and summit (0)
• Yoav Mazeh: Fixation in Copyright - part three: my thoughts (0)
• What about visual artists? (9)

Ma.gnolia bookmarks for August 27th, 2008 through August 28th, 2008:

• Holy F*ck! Conservatives Cut Funding To Canadian Artists Abroad -
• PM cancels Jean’s Beijing trip, fuelling election hype - You know, I never thought I could be this excited about politics. But the thought of copyright & art being part of the driving force for an early federal election is invigorating.
• Artists, actors say Tory arts cuts equal censorship -
• Quebec government sued for buying Microsoft software -
• Cultural sector helps drive economy: report - Arts and culture contributed $46 billion to Canada's economy in 2007, but the overall impact of the sector was a much broader $84.6 billion, according to a report from the Conference Board of Canada.
• Opposition launches Commons review of arts cuts - CBC reports on the Aug 26 Heritage meeting

Related posts

• No related posts.