8.03.2008
The Blue Pagans and The Convention
I would like use this light news day to alert my readers to a new blog/project that I have a hand in coordinating. You may remember my interview with Maine Democratic Party official and out(ed) Pagan Rita Moran back in April. Ms. Moran, though losing her superdelegate status, has been chosen by the Maine Democratic Party to be a part of the delegation for that state. Realizing that this was a unique opportunity, she offered to report back from the Democratic National Convention and deliver a Pagan perspective on the proceedings. So Rita, along with fellow Democratic Party official and credentialed blogger ?Ed Lachowicz, have started a special blog to post their reports.
"We've got a great opportunity here, a chance to make our mark on a campaign for change, a chance to be a constant reminder that we expect "Change We Can Believe In" means an America that treats Pagans fairly and equally....from an ensured right to worship for military Pagans (including Pagan chaplains), to true enforcement of the separation of Church (Grove?) and State." - Rita Moran, Change Who Can Believe in?
I believe that this is a unique opportunity to have an embedded Pagan voice at a major political event, and The Wild Hunt will be posting links to their coverage of the convention. In the meantime, Rita and Ed have already started blogging in anticipation of the upcoming event, and there are a variety of subscription services and tools at the site that allow you to follow along and promote their posts. I hope those of you interested in the project will help promote Blue Pagans at the DNC by adding it to your blogrolls, telling your friends, and linking to the convention coverage later this month.
I would also like to take this opportunity to put out a call for openly Pagan Republican delegates or credentialed press who are planning to attend the Republican National Convention in September. If you would like to see a "Red Pagans at the RNC" blog happen, send me an e-mail. While I happen to "trend blue" personally, this site refrains from endorsing any political candidate or party, and remains a "neutral" ground open to Pagans of all political persuasions.
Labels: blogging, Democratic National Convention, Democratic Party, Edward Lachowicz, Paganism, politics, Presidential election, Rita Moran
6.22.2008
Taking a Personal Day
I'm currently in Rochester, Minnesota dealing with a family crisis, so I don't have the time to update the blog properly today. I should hopefully be back tomorrow with my normal Pagan-fueled content. In the meantime, here are some quick links to check out today.
Boing Boing: LA's Occult Roots. (Related: L.A. Record interview with author Erik Davis).
"Some people who would say that they practice majick would not necessarily like the world “occult” which tends to have a darker connotation. It really just means esoteric, behind the scenes, or secret—not necessarily in the sense of a secret society but in the sense that it’s not the obvious level of reality."
Universalists plan five-day gathering in Fort Lauderdale with caucuses, issues, rallies. ... "next week's gathering of Unitarian Universalists can seem like a collision of social caucus and New Age festival."
Druid tree language tells a story. ... "The project, called Root 66, is a tree trail of 15 mosiacs designed by students of Calder High, Mytholmroyd, and placed on stumps along a woodland track at the end of Holmes Park, Station Road, Luddenden Foot. The mosaics are based on a 6,000-year-old druid tree language called Ogham and will tell stories for keen-eyed walkers to spot on their way."
Thanks for your understanding. Back tomorrow!
Labels: blogging, Jason Pitzl-Waters, Pagan News of Note, The Wild Hunt
6.17.2008
Is the Associated Press Trying to Destroy Fair Use?
Last year I was interviewed by the Associated Press for a story about Marshall University in West Virginia adding Pagan holidays to its list of excused absences. Since I was proud of being interviewed on the subject, I quoted myself being quoted in my blog.
"By specifically including pagans, Marshall is taking an important step toward recognizing the validity of their beliefs, said Jason Pitzl-Waters, an authority on paganism who edits the Wild Hunt Web site, a blog about religion, politics and culture. 'That's part of the struggle for modern pagans,' said Pitzl-Waters, a pagan. 'Even though modern paganism has been in the public since the 1950s, a lot of people still see it as a rebellious teenage activity, not necessarily something you do as a religious observance' ... 'What binds [modern Pagans] together isn't our theology, necessarily,' Pitzl-Waters said. 'What binds us together is a sense of communal practice and togetherness.'"
I thought that in excerpting the above quote I was protected by the copyright principle of Fair Use.
"The Copyright Act says that "fair use...for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright." So if you are commenting on or criticizing an item someone else has posted, you have a fair use right to quote."
But now the Associated Press would want me to pay them $50 in order to quote them quoting me.
"In the name of "defin[ing] clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and Web sites can excerpt" the Associated Press is now selling "quotation licenses" that allow bloggers, journallers, and people who forward quotations from articles to co-workers to quote their articles. The licenses start at $12.50 for quotations of 5-25 words. The licensing system exhorts you to snitch on people who publish without paying the blood-money, offering up to $1 million in reward money (they also think that "fair use" -- the right to copy without permission -- means "Contact the owner of the work to be sure you are covered under fair use.")."
Not surprisingly, this new policy has shocked and angered the blogging community, and the AP is now sitting down with the Media Bloggers Association in order to negotiate some guidelines. However, any deal struck may well fly in the face of our already established rights and freedoms as journalists.
"I suggest it’s better described as yet another attempt by a big media company to replace the established legal and social order with with a system of private law (the very definition of the word “privilege”) in which a few private organizations get to dictate to the rest of society what the rules will be."
I personally think this payment scam is a horrible idea by the AP which flies in the face of established copyright law. Even worse, if you do pay them, you aren't allowed to criticize AP reporting!
"You shall not use the Content in any manner or context that will be in any way derogatory to the author, the publication from which the Content came, or any person connected with the creation of the Content or depicted in the Content. You agree not to use the Content in any manner or context that will be in any way derogatory to or damaging to the reputation of Publisher, its licensors, or any person connected with the creation of the Content or referenced in the Content […]"
If I followed their new rules, I would be restrained from saying anything "derogatory", and you know who gets to decide what's derogatory don't you? This whole thing is a farce, and until I am directly threatened with legal action I will take no action to change my established quoting and blogging methods. I can only hope that the backlash will make the AP realize that they don't get to tell the rest of us how to apply copyright law.
Labels: AP, blogging, copyright, fair use, free speech, journalism
