It’s really unfortunate that the good for which ACTRA fights gets overshadowed by their cloudy logic on copyright.
I’m a fan of Leah Pinsent but, yikes… did she ever do Canadian actors a great disservice by calling mash-ups “morally wrong”. Not to mention the fact that this kind of attitude has the exact opposite effect of fostering cultural expression (which presumably she went to Parliament Hill to fight in support of, in the name of Canadian performers and cultural creators).
I don’t understand ACTRA’s fear of mash-ups. Mash-ups are awesome.That’s why they’re popular.
I’ve searched the entire internet and I can’t find a single video mash-up with Leah Pinsent in it. She has nothing to worry about… unless…
Paging Leah Pinsent – there aren’t any mash-ups of your work on the internet. You should be more worried about the fact that you don’t have any mash-ups rather than fight a hypothetical on “behalf” of the rest of us who might love the opportunity/honour to have enough work out there in the first place, to have mashed-up by a) fans or, b) other artists who have been inspired by the work to spend time creating a mash-up.
I hope that Ms. Pinsent comes around and starts fighting on behalf of the mash-up (creative commons) culture. That would show some forward, progressive thinking. It’s going to be really difficult for ACTRA not to look like its being run by a bunch of out-of-touch luddites if they keep this kind of narrative in the media.
For what it’s worth, here’s the first result in a YouTube search of “Gordon Pinsent Mashup”:
