Tyler Cowen: evaluation

Transcript context

…I am somewhat vague myself on what it even says now. There had been some cases — I’m not sure how they were settled or to what extent they’re landmarks. But I do feel, in terms of visual culture, I’ve spent a good part of my career appropriating things that other people did. You could say it’s just wrong. Often, that would certainly be a position that would be hard to argue with. My position is very different — that everything that exists, exists in the present tense, and that everything can be material for someone else without violating its original status, and that one thing doesn’t impinge on the other. It doesn’t need to be protected because if it’s any good, it protects itself. That’s my view. I don’t know what the law says. In my view, it’s too hard to appropriate images, whether in painting or in rap music, or the difference between who can have the rights to a painting, the rights to a photograph. Just seems too complicated. I think there should be more open access. To close, I’d like to offer three different statements from you, as we started, and you can tell us what you meant by each one. Here’s one, and I quote, “One of the principal cultural alliances is between the avant-garde and sexual libertinism.” I wish it were true. [laughter] It seems as though the avant-garde is no more protected from puritanicalism than any other segment of society, so I think I was wrong on that one. I think it was wishful thinking.…

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