Julianna Yau’s blog

My studio is very close to completion, and I’m struggling to catch up on my emails and blogs. Here are some things that have been sitting around for weeks (with, according to Google Reader, 1000+ posts to be read):

Conferences

• Presentations from the conference on Education, Culture and the Knowledge Economy are available online (my notes are still sitting on my EeePC)
• Session materials from the Technology in the Arts Conference are also available (my notes here)

Copyright – Canada

• Not all sides are represented in debate on copyright bill
• Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights Letter Wizard for C-61 Updated To Include Hardcopies & Personalization, plus their summary of media reactions
• CBC’s Search Engine Copyright Quiz: “what if I ________: is that illegal?”

Orphan Works bill in the US

• The Art Newspaper on the Orphan Works bill
• Counterfeit Chic on the Orphan Works bill

C-10

• Alberta considers tax credits for film production

• Arts subsidies ­– Why do we need them?

Tech

• NDP calls for net neutrality

• Bill C-555

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a real entry to this blog because I’ve been busy with my studio open house. Now that I have better studio space, I’ll be re-evaluating how much time I’m spending on this blog. Celebrate Our Artists’ Weekend is just around the corner, and I have some other things on the go too.

Here are some links (some of which are old in blog time) to things which have been happening while I’ve been running around with studio stuff. There’s more to come, because I have 168 unread blog posts!

Art

• “Spring Cleaning” Parliamentary Update from the Canada Conference for the Arts
• From zero to $22.5-million in 2 years
• Flood shuts Canada’s national archives

C-10

• No guidelines could fix bill C-10 film clause: Cronenberg
• MPs, including Tories, sign up to view controversial sex comedy

Copyright

• John Degen on copyright in the Globe & Mail, and his afterthoughts
• Lessig on the orphan works bill in the US
• Louis Vuitton sues art student over Darfur design
• No quick fix in negotiations: actors union to members
• Denver Gingerich wants to know whether anyone attended the Copyright in Canada conference who can share information about it

Net Neutrality

• Internet protesters to descend on Ottawa
• NDP to introduce ‘net neutrality’ private member’s bill

And just for fun, here’s a story of how Dell is competing with Sony not only for market share but severity of PR fiascoes.

(I double-checked this one…it really is about C-10, not net neutrality!)

CBC reports that the director of Love & Savegry suspects C-10 had a hand in his film being held at the border. To be honest, I wonder whether the title would have triggered a review based on pornography concerns alone. Although I’m very much against C-10 and am concerned about what would have happened if the footage was wrecked, I find that pinning the confiscation on C-10 is a bit of a stretch.

I’m trying to stay on top of blog reading/writing, so here are today’s noteworthy links:

• Michael Geist’s list of 5 copyright myths
• Charlie Angus also predicts a new copyright bill (link via Digital Copyright Canada)
• C-10 still won’t die
• The US isn’t having any more luck with patent reform than copyright reform

Ang Lee joins the chorus against the potential for censorship being created by C-10.

I haven’t been blogging much because I’ve been spending extra time on finishing a sculpture and taking care of the administrative tasks that go with it (primarily documentation). Here are some things which have been happening while I’ve barricaded myself into my studio:

• Verner calls for film, TV industry’s help to draft C-10 guidelines
• CBC provides a summary of the C-10 issue
• George Jonas from the Truro Daily News asks “Art Subsidies–Why do we need them?”
• Utah Gov. Jon Hunstman Jr. looks into the Spiral Jetty issue
• The government is increasing the Ministry of Culture’s funding by $63 million over the next four years (search for “The Entertainment and Creative Cluster” within the document)
• Geist puts the National Gallery of Canada under his copyright-microscope

The Globe & Mail provides an update on the star-studded backlash on C-10.

The following notice of meeting has been released for C-10:

Wednesday, April 2, 2008
When the Senate rises
but not before 4 p.m.

Bill C-10, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, including amendments in relation to foreign investment entities and nonresident trusts, and to provide for the bijural expression of the provisions of that Act.

I can’t seem to find the PDF I was sent on their website, so here it is. The link above is to the official governmental website.

Michael Geist points to an article in The Star by Peter Howell which quotes a spokesperson for Heritage Minister Josée Verner as indicating that “Canadian Heritage has not received an application for a production containing criminal content”.

This is great news, but doesn’t make people’s concerns a simple case of “legal absurdity”. The proposed wording in C-10 uses the phrase “public policy“, and does not speak specifically to issues of criminal content. Again, the concern is not the isolated inclusion of the phrase “public policy”, but its existence alongside Charles McVety’s lobbying “to deny tax credits to TV and film productions that contain graphic sex and violence or other offensive content”.

Despite the fact that the opposition motion to Bill C-10 was voted down in response to the Senate Liberals’ intent to block the Income Tax Act from being used as a censorship enabler, the Banking Committee resumes study of Bill C-10 amidst public concerns about censorship.

CARFAC Ontario has published their press release on C-10, as well as a form letter which can be used to send to members of parliament. The Toronto International Film Festival Group has also published a press release on C-10. The Facebook group Keep your censoring hands off of Canadian film and TV! No to Bill C-10! has 29,360 members as of the writing of this post.