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.'"

Comments

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 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:In Soviet Russia...

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

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

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:the BMO

[YrWrstNtmr]

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

Burning Man, indeed.

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.