The link provided is an article in the New York Times about the contentious issue of who owns pieces and artifacts displayed in museums, as many pieces were illegally excavated or pillaged from their nation of origin. Reminded me of our discussion about who if anyone owns a work of literature, is it the author, the reader, etc?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/29/arts/artsspecial/29treasures.html?pagewanted=all
The question of who owns art has been questioned verily as of late. PIPA and SOPA has been driving many internet users crazy. I think that artists should own most of their works. Currently it seems like publishers and other contractors own the rights to the works. I have a problem with this when the industries controlling these rights have a problem with the spreading of works that the artists do not object to. I can think of one strong example now; John Lennon's Imagine was removed from youtube due to copyright issues. I cannot imagine (ha ha) that John Lennon would have approved of that. John Lennon, I think, would have wanted his work spread as far as it could be. Imagine was, after all, his vision of a perfect society. There is no reason why someone would not want their perfect society. I'm sure this has happened with literature as well.
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