EFF Says Burning Man Usurps Digital Rights

Hugh Pickens writes "In a few weeks, tens of thousands of creative people will make their yearly pilgrimage to Nevada's Black Rock desert for Burning Man, an annual art event and temporary community celebrating radical self expression, self-reliance, creativity and freedom, but EFF reports that the event's Terms and Conditions include 'a remarkable bit of legal sleight-of-hand.' As soon as 'any third party displays or disseminates' your photos or videos in a manner that the Burning Man Organization (BMO) doesn't like, those photos or videos become the property of the BMO. BMO's Terms and Conditions also limits your own rights to use your own photos and videos on any public websites obliging you to take down any photos to which BMO objects, for any reason; and forbidding you from allowing anyone else to reuse your photos. This 'we automatically own all your stuff' magic appears to be creative lawyering intended to allow the BMO to use the streamlined 'notice and takedown' process enshrined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to quickly remove photos from the Internet giving BMO the power of fast and easy online censorship. 'Burning Man strives to celebrate our individuality, creativity and free spirit,' writes Corynne McSherry. 'Unfortunately, the fine print on the tickets doesn't live up to that aspiration.'"

Re:Another liberal dream goes totalitarian

[Anonymous Coward]

I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. I have this liberal dream of being able to take a solid shit one day.

I also had this liberal idea that hard work and education would allow me to become more financially secure. It appears that it's not the case.

What has solid shits, burning man and working hard have to do with being liberal? Nothing! But Chewbacca was a liberal! He walked around naked with just an ammo belt on! What a liberal FAG! I'm sure he marched in gay pride parades and wants universal health coverage. You can just see it on his face!

Burning Man is about creativity?

[Scragglykat]

And here I thought it was about getting nude in the desert!

Protest

[eclectro]

Protest by setting fire to something. People will notice then.

Re:So go and just don't do anything

[Yvan256]

How about having everyone wear a V mask [wikipedia.org] as a sign of protest?

Re:Bah, It's been that way for aa few years now.

[rockout]

I went to Burning Man in 99 and 2000. At the time, a bunch of people were complaining that "Man, Burning Man today isn't what it was. Now it's all corporate and shit."

Sorry, I'll get off your lawn now.

Re:So go and just don't do anything

[Zontar The Mindless]

America needs you, Lawrence Welk [wikipedia.org], now more than ever!

Re:In Soviet Russia...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I think you might have just Godwinned without reference to Hitler. Impressive.

Re:In Soviet Russia...

[Canazza]

If you're gonna call Stalin 'Joe' - you should call Corynne 'Cory' and Benito 'Ben' :P

Re:Another liberal dream goes totalitarian

[PopeRatzo]

"We automatically own all your stuff" isn't the only BMO rule totally contrary to the events original spirit.

Whats the matter, did the BMO organizers ban you from carrying your handguns and wearing your white supremacist t-shirt again?

Re:Another liberal dream goes totalitarian

[Anonymous Coward]

Like most liberal fantasies, it rapidly devolved into an authoritarian group usurping natural ownership and dictating rules galore.

Unlike most conservative fantasies, which start that way.

Re:So go and just don't do anything

[PopeRatzo]

or that horrible pic of that man spreading his cheeks.

"Horrible" is maybe too strong a word in this case, no? What's the matter are you opposed to the goatse man's right to self-expression?

Well let me tell you something, Mr. Man, you may not realize this, but at Burning Man 2004 the entire event's grand finale was every attendee striking that very pose.

At least I think that's what happened. To be fair, I had dropped some of the brown acid, which I later heard may have been ...(wait for it...) tainted.

[Get it? "Tainted"? As in "taint"-ed? Oh, never mind. My best material is wasted on Slashdot.]

Re:copyright, patents, intellectual property

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

I'm sure creators have already leaned towards "fuck you" themselves. I'm sorry that you can't get everything at a price that you want, when you want, and how you want, but you can still just buy the damn thing, or not. Sorry, them's the brakes: pay for the work of others that you use.

The original idea of championing individual rights has been completely corrupted by greed and affluence. The hoard of self-justifying pirates make sure that the actual creators get less $, and consumers fork over more $.

Piracy has betrayed its philosophical underpinnings, and we, the people, who are supposed to be the ones in charge, now have a duty to destroy piracy, and educate others on the damage it causes, since our common sense, which is supposed to serve us, seems to be serving nothing but our basest, greediest desires (with our values in tow).

Seriously though, if you have a better system for encouraging creation, then support it, and stop pissing in our system. Some of us don't want to destroy the entire system, and hope that something better will take its place. Start by only dealing with business models you agree with, and lose the "it's our culture, so hand it over" crap. Artists work on these things. It's not about working once and collecting ever after (that's EXTREMELY hard to do), it's about getting paid, one way or another. So I reiterate: find and support another way, or STFU.

Re:Another liberal dream goes totalitarian

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you WANT the terrists to win?

Re:the BMO

[YrWrstNtmr]

No, after the event, it will be 'willyleaks'.

Burning Man, indeed.

Hey are you going to burning man?

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a place.
A wonderous place.
Where Like minded individuals gather out on the playa.
They subscribe to a whole new set of ideas.
They represent a new found society Where creativity flows
And parameters are as wide as the open terrain.
That place. That wonderous place is called.....

Buuurningman!

Hey are you going to burning man bury your toes in the desert sand.
Ain't no man for to tell you how to be..
Come on down with me to burning man. I got a recipe for cosmic flan.
Strip off your clothes and set your aura free.
There's a place I know called Black Rock City where we're about to get down to the nitty gritty.
We're all children of the stars above searching for answers and feasting on... Love!

Hey are ya going to burning man? I got a big ol' slab of veggie ham.
Come to camp Disorient and bring some soy cheese.
Free thinking people at burning man, Amazing Larry's got the master plan.
It's all about just letting myself be me. There's a gal I know called Moon Stone Annie she blows flames right out her fanny.
You ought'a see her walking on the tight wire, juggling bananas while her hair is on fire.

Come on down with me to burning man.
It's a fabulous place.
A Fabulous Land.
oooh yeah
Art love love and art art for love.
It's all about just letting myself be me.

Hey are you going to burning man?

Hey are you going to burning man?

Re:Another liberal dream goes totalitarian

[Culture20]

You don't really understand Godwin's law, do you?

You Godwin's Law Nazi!

Re:Think about this for a sec

[operagost]

This has worked for the last five years, and as a result it's fine and encouraged to smoke pot and drop acid all weekend long, even in front of event security (they do it too)

I wouldn't think that hallucinating security personnel would be very effective.

Re:Think about this for a sec

[Demonantis]

If legality is all it is then that is completely acceptable and they should amend their terms to state specifically that. Why do they need to use an umbrella when a rain coat will do just fine? If they said that pictures of illegal activities are controlled it would do exactly the same thing then and not have far reaching effects. Also, what right do they have to enforce this ownership. This is an unusual claim for these types of events. Most people could argue that this is inconsistent with expectations and not clearly explained which would nullify BMO's claim if its just small print.