Update: MySpace removes pirated NDK Creative Artist article from website

MySpace has notified NDK Creative Artist by email today that his article Traditional Model Music Industry Shows Increasing Signs of Collapse which was misappropriated by MySpace user and BMI Songwriter/Producer Colin Preston, as mentioned in the Allforart News Flash of 22 September 2007 in the Free Articulator has been removed from MySpace.

No apology, as requested, has been received from Colin Preston to date.

The Points of the Creative Artists’ Code: Three - Your art has the potential…

Do we, as Creative Artists, have any responsibility for what we communicate to others in and through our work? There are numerous examples of how people are influenced by works of literature and entertainment, with gaming perhaps one of the most controversial. The author Trevanian, wrote in Shibumi (a spy-martial arts thriller) of the technique of Naked/Kill and also a theft and after the book was published copycat methods of descriptions he gave were found to have influenced real world crimes. As a result of these events Trevanian decided not to give full details of method and called this “social responsibility.” There are other examples from the age of television and movies that have also inspired crime and other behavior. In this third of the Code Point Articles, NDK Creative Artist addresses the power Creative Artists have to influence society and offers us a more detailed explanation.. — Joel Falconer, Editor-in-Chief Read more

News Flash: Free Articulator Catches Intellectual Property Thief Stealing NDK Article and publishing it on MySpace

It’s not hard to reprint intellectual property licensed under a Creative Commons License. As we declare in the footer of every page of the Free Articulator, the content published on this site is Creative Commons licensed. We encourage other publishers around the internet to reprint our content, enhancing the value of their site and bringing publicity to our contributors. But we do have a few conditions, as stipulated by the Creative Commons license:

The content must be attributed and link back to the Free Articulator - a standard practice in any field.

The content must not be a derivative of the original, but an accurate and unchanged copy.

The content must not be used for commercial purposes.

Today we discovered plagiarism and intellectual property theft of our content by a fellow named Colin Preston on his MySpace blog. The article that was ripped off was NDK Creative Artist’s “Traditional Model Music Industry Shows Increasing Signs of Collapse”, and the plagiarized version can be found here, until MySpace takes action as requested. Screenshot here.

Mr Preston failed to attribute NDK Creative Artist and link back to the Free Articulator, he made a derivative by modifying the content, and it is arguably a commercial use of the content as his MySpace profile is clearly a promotional tool for his services as a musician and producer.

“I’d be flattered and grateful if he had just done the right thing,” said NDK Creative Artist, who wrote the lyrics for the tuneback “Creative Commons for the Common Man“.

The article in question is, in part, an anti-piracy piece, and Mr Preston has pirated NDK’s work in order to make himself look reputable and anti-piracy. The gall, hypocrisy and lack of integrity of some artists is undesirable.

The Free Articulator has notified MySpace and Allforart, the Free Articulator, NDK Enterprises Limited and NDK Creative Artist will take further action as necessary.

We offer our content to the world with only a few stipulations; it’s not that hard to reprint Creative Commons material. Do the right thing.

If you would like to learn how to protect yourself in similar situations, click here to subscribe to the Free Articulator now - we’ll be publishing a series on intellectual property for artists soon.

Creative Tip: Reading leads to riches…

I read an immense amount of material. I read because I have an insatiable desire to know things, and I once coined the term infomaniac to describe this compulsion to know. Reading leads to riches, the riches of understanding and realization.

I just read this article about creativity and I recognized every single point in a subject I have spent a great deal of time researching, studying, considering and experiencing. I think readers of the Free Articulator will recognize them, and as I did, find affirmation in what Do you recognize these 10 mental blocks to creative thinking? has to offer; read it now.

30 Second Review: World War Z

World War Z, the latest from novelist Max Brooks, is an “oral history” of those who survived a global zombie infestation in Earth’s near future. A super-virus that kills the host but maintains the brain without the need for oxygen and food is let loose across the globe. The book is a chronological collection of interviews with survivors and as such lacks a singular and cohesive narrative. That’s not a detriment, as all the voices turn the book into a cubist painting of sorts - you see the same subject from many sides at once.

Still, the execution is flawed in that it cuts off surprisingly well-written mini-stories to refocus on the less thrilling bigger picture. There’s no better example than the story of an American family escaping through Canada that juxtaposes a deteriorating marriage against the backdrop of zombie hordes as seen by a child and re-told by an adult. Their story is just so rich and engrossing I’m disappointed to have to move on, although the real disappointment is that the book is really short and I burned through the whole thing in just a few hours.

Conclusion? A week after reading this I’m still contemplating how I’d escape from my 4th story apartment if the building was flooded with zombies. Sure, the science is implausible, but the writing, narration and pace are surprisingly top-notch. A perfect read-while-you’re-on-the-subway-book.

A movie is also in the works (scripted by Michael Straczynski!).

World War Z by Max Brooks. ISBN: 9780739340134, Random House, 2006.

Links:

World War Z Official Website
Another reviewer’s take on the book

Warning you may be offended if you click the link…

It’s a serious warning, you may be exposed to words and language that may offend your sensibilities, if you still have any. And if you do have some, please let us know how you have managed to preserve them in the face of such offensive journalism that passes for respectability. This is pretty clever stuff, and it illustrates a point found elsewhere. I’m truly encouraged to see this sort of thing going on.

To enjoy being offended click through to this YouTube video.

The Points of the Creative Artists’ Code: Two - Communicate only that which you truly know about in your art.

As we continue this series of deeper explanations of the points of the Code of a Creative Artist we come to one of the seemingly simpler points…

Communicate only that which you truly know about in your art. If you do not know then find out.

What can you know about your own thoughts? What thoughts can you think about the thoughts you have on any given topic? This is not about existentialism, or the metaphysical, I’m simply pointing up that there are things you Read more