Major websites went dark on January 18, to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act legislation currently before Congress. We share their concern.
We also share concerns about piracy because Cultural Weekly is in the content-creation business. We support intellectual property rights. That’s why we only re-post content from other sites with their permission, and always give credit and links back.
However, the proposed legislation seeks to do more than stop piracy. It proposes Draconian penalties that would eliminate websites like ours (and giant ones, like Wikipedia, too). We would not be able to link to any other site unless we first confirmed that site never linked to any copyright-infringed content. If we did? We would face criminal and financial penalties, and Cultural Weekly would be shut down because Internet providers would deny your ability to access our site.
Save the Internet is a coalition of individuals and organizations who support freedom of access and information. You can stay informed through their service. We urge you to share your views with your representatives.
Adam Leipzig is the founder and CEO of MediaU, online career acceleration. MediaU opens the doors of access for content creation, filmmaking and television. Adam, Cultural Daily’s founder and publisher, has worked with more than 10,000 creatives in film, theatre, television, music, dance, poetry, literature, performance, photography, and design. He has been a producer, distributor or supervising executive on more than 30 films that have disrupted expectations, including A Plastic Ocean, March of the Penguins, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Dead Poets Society, Titus and A Plastic Ocean. His movies have won or been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, 11 BAFTA Awards, 2 Golden Globes, 2 Emmys, 2 Directors Guild Awards, 4 Sundance Awards and 4 Independent Spirit Awards. Adam teaches at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Adam began his career in theatre; he was the first professional dramaturg in the United States outside of New York City, and he was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Theatre Center, where he produced more than 300 plays, music, dance, and other events. Adam is CEO of Entertainment Media Partners, a company that navigates creative entrepreneurs through the Hollywood system and beyond, and a keynote speaker. Adam is the former president of National Geographic Films and senior Walt Disney Studios executive. He has also served in senior capacities at CreativeFuture, a non-profit organization that advocates for the creative community. Adam is is the author of ‘Inside Track for Independent Filmmakers ’ and co-author of the all-in-one resource for college students and emerging filmmakers 'Filmmaking in Action: Your Guide to the Skills and Craft' (Macmillan). (Photo by Jordan Ancel)