Begin forwarded message:
> From: Sebastian Luetgert <[email protected]>
> Date: March 4, 2004 3:13:49 PM EST
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Textz.com: Copy Adorno, go to Jail?
>
> [Bcc: Daniel G. Andujar, Jeebesh Bagchi, Rachel Baker, Richard
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>
> Dear all,
>
> some of you may already know about the issue, some of you may not.
> Textz.com –
> which, juridically, boils down to me – is currently having a problem =
> with two
> essays by Theodor W. Adorno. Their copyright holder – a Hamburg
> foundation run
> by Jan Philipp Reemtsma, well-known theory collector and wealthy
> philanthropist
> who owns a big slice of Adorno and Benjamin – has obtained a warrant =
> of arrest
> against me, claiming textz.com has trespassed on their "intellectual =
> property".
> The case has already stirred a bizarre controversy in German
> mainstream press,
> but I think that the issue deserves some more attention beyond just
> that.
>
> Attached is an open letter sent to the Hamburg foundation, as well as =
> the press
> release textz.com has issued last week. The latter includes both a
> how-to that
> lists a few ways to support textz.com and a collection of links that =
> point to
> some more background information, correspondence, press coverage, and =
> the like.
> Most of it is archived at http://textz.com/adorno – and since at
> least some of
> it is even quite funny, I hope that I'm not completely wasting your
> time.
>
> Best regards,
> Sebastian Luetgert
> textz.com
> Berlin, Germany
>
>
> =========================
==========================
======================
> =========
>
>
> Free Adorno, Free Benjamin
>
> An Open Letter to Jan Philipp Reemtsma, Regarding His "Intellectual
> Property"
>
> Jan Philipp Reemtsma
> Hamburg Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Culture
> Mittelweg 36
> 20148 Hamburg/Germany
>
> Dear Jan Philipp Reemtsma,
>
> you are a man of immense wealth - a wealth that is not limited to the =
> material
> world, but stretches far into the realm of the intellectual. You have =
> founded
> and are continuously funding a number of institutions and archives
> that claim to
> serve the public by advancing both scientific research and cultural
> expression.
> Today, we have to notify you that, just as your material riches are
> about to
> increase by another few thousand Euros, you have irrevocably lost the =
> rights to
> some of your most precious pieces of "intellectual property".
>
> As you, as its president, must be aware of, the Hamburg Foundation for =
> the
> Advancement of Science and Culture has sued - and obtained a
> preliminary
> injunction against - the owner of textz.com, who, according to your
> lawyers,
> Senfft, Kersten, Voss-Andreae and Schwenn, has caused your foundation =
> damages of
> more than 2,300 Euros by making available for download two essays by =
> Theodor W.
> Adorno. Even though textz.com, by never paying or even acknowledging =
> these
> fictitious damages, has given you sufficient time to realize your
> mistake, you
> have filed for and obtained a warrant of arrest against the - still
> undefended -
> defendant.
>
> Jail time for copying Adorno: that's where you have crossed the line =
> that
> separates ordinary copyright cases from extraordinary tales of
> copyright madness
> - despite, and maybe just because, the formal correctness of your
> procedure. As
> an "intellectual proprietor" of Theodor W. Adorno and Walter Benjamin, =
> you
> should be aware of the power that still emanates from their works: a =
> negative,
> dialectical, weak and historical power that stretches far beyond the =
> reach of
> any court of law, and that it impossible to contain in any of your
> archives.
> "Intellectually", Adorno and Benjamin will always escape the idea of =
> becoming
> commodities, and their works, even as the private property they have =
> become,
> have a peculiar tendency to vanish the very moment you try to get hold =
> of them.
>
> The question of "intellectual property" is not if the producers of
> creative
> works should be denied their right to material reproduction through
> their
> creative work, or if the temporary owners of such works should be hung =
> by the
> guts of their lawyers. The question of "intellectual property" is when =
> it will
> finally be acknowledged that the people have a universal right to the
> reappropriation of the means of production, that creative works -
> however
> privatized and commodified they may have become - are a such means of
> production, and that their reproduction ist a fundamental and fully
> legitimate
> form of production itself.
>
> Even confronted with today's draconic laws against digital
> reproduction - the
> state of permanent emergency and institutionalized panic that is the =
> "war
> against piracy" - people have never ceased to copy, paste, modify,
> save, upload,
> download, print and share digital data. In the case of "intellectual =
> property",
> the power of the factual exceeds by far the power of the law. The
> people are
> perfectly aware of the historical fact that no law is ever just given. =
> Law is
> created though factual struggle, and it erodes through factual
> struggle. Thus,
> the critique of "intellectual property" cannot remain individual,
> sporadic, and
> theoretical - it has to become swarming, massively parallel, and
> practical.
>
> We are glad to announce that, effective today, every single work by
> Adorno and
> Benjamin that you claim as your "intellectual property" has become
> part of the
> very public domain that had granted you these copyrights in the first =
> place. Of
> course they will not be available instantly, and of course we will not =
> publish
> them ourselves - but you can take our word that they will be out, in =
> countless
> locations and formats, and that not even a legion of lawyers will
> manage to get
> them back. Maybe it helps if you think of your "intellectual property" =
> as a
> genie, and of your foundation as a bottling business.
>
> We like non-fiction, and we live in fictitious times. We live in a
> time where we
> have fictitious "intellectual property" laws that serve fictitious
> copyright
> holders. We live in a time where we have fictitious private
> institutions that
> are going to war against piracy for fictitious reasons. Whether it's =
> the fiction
> of rights management or the fiction of intellectual theft - we are
> against this
> war, Mr. Reemtsma. Shame on you, Mr. Reemtsma, shame on you. And any =
> time you
> got the Arts and the Sciences against you, your time is up.
>
> Thank you very much,
>
> The Berlin Foundation for the Advancement of Production and
> Reproduction
>
> a.k.a.
> A.S.Ambulanzen
> Berlin/Germany
> February 24, 2004
>
> P.S.: We know that German Neo-Fascists have attacked you numerous
> times for the
> exhibition on the crimes of the German Wehrmacht, curated by your
> Hamburg
> Institute for Social Research, and that they continue to defame you as =
> the "heir
> of a tobacco company", which not only, and in the first place,
> perfectly fits an
> anti-semitic cliche, but also resonates, in many of these defamations,=
> with
> hints to your "personal responsability for the death of millions of
> smokers".
> Please be assured that - even though we don't share your opinion that =
> said
> exhibition was a "success", and even though tobacco may be just another
> commodity that kills - we, as a group of smokers who know the Germans =
> and their
> history, are on your side, no matter what, in defense of society
> against
> Fascism. If you side with us in defense of wealth against scarcity is =
> an
> entirely different question - but we bet that one day you will.
>
>
> =========================
==========================
======================
> =========
>
>
> Copy Adorno, Go To Jail? Textz.com Doesn't Think So
>
> The Hamburg Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Culture,
> presided by
> Jan Philipp Reemtsma, has just advanced science and culture to a whole =
> new
> level: Sebastian Luetgert, the founder of textz.com, is facing a
> warrant of
> arrest and may go to jail if he fails to pay more than 2,300 euros in =
> damages
> for the alleged copying of two essays by Theodor W. Adorno that the
> foundation
> claims as their "intellectual property". Reemtsma was kindly asked to =
> settle,
> but refused.
>
> The case dates back to August 2002, when the foundation filed for a
> preliminary
> injunction against Luetgert at the Hamburg State Court, referring to =
> the alleged
> distibution of two works by Theodor W. Adorno, "Jargon der
> Eigentlichkeit" and
> "Fascism and Anti-Semitic Propaganda". Since not a single e-mail was =
> sent to
> notify textz.com of the matter, and since written notification failed =
> to reach
> the defendant, textz.com only learned about the issue after a few
> days. The
> works in question were immediately removed from the site to avoid any =
> further
> legal hassles.
>
> In December 2003, Luetgert found himself confronted with a warrant of =
> arrest,
> obtained against him by the Hamburg Foundation, citing unpaid claims =
> related to
> the unauthorized copying of said works. In January 2004, Luetgert
> addressed the
> issue in a letter to Reemtsma and asked for a scholarship so he could =
> pay this
> debt and avoid jail time. Reemtsma did not reply, but handed the
> letter over to
> his foundation's lawyers - Senfft, Kersten, Voss-Andreae & Schwenn - =
> who insist
> on the payment of 2,331.32 Euros for alleged damages and legal fees.
>
> Textz.com believes that an "intellectual proprietor" of Theodor W.
> Adorno and
> Walter Benjamin who claims to advance science and culture by sending =
> people to
> jail for taking Adorno and Benjamin serious is seriously wrong on a
> whole number
> of points. The Hamburg Foundation undererstimates the resistance of
> their
> possessions against their legal protection just as much as their
> lawyers
> underestimate the ability of the Internet to route around damage. In =
> the end,
> they may even be wrong in thinking that they will ever get their
> property back.
>
> Today, in an open letter (http://textz.com/adorno/open_letter.txt),
> Reemtsma has
> been notified that his foundation's "intellectual property" has been =
> returned to
> the public domain. This first-of-its-kind protest signals a refusal to =
> let
> copyright holders and lawyers censor the very works they pretend to
> protect and
> control what the public can archive or read. There is a universal
> right to copy
> that will never cease to apply, and there is copyright legislation
> that will.
> We're just at the beginning.
>
> Textz.com
> February 24, 2004
>
> http://textz.com
> mailto:[email protected]
>
> ———————————————————————–=
> ———
>
> How you can support textz.com:
>
> - Spread the word. Tell your friends, tell a journalist, write about =
> it, put it
> on a website, post it to a mailing list, etc. Textz.com is also
> available for
> interviews, just mail to [email protected].
>
> - Sign our petition at http://textz.com/adorno/petition.html.
>
> - Write a letter to Jan Philipp Reemtsma, Hamburg Foundation for the =
> Advancement
> of Science and Culture, Mittelweg 36, 20148 Hamburg, Germany. If you =
> like,
> send a copy of your letter to [email protected].
>
> - Donate to textz.com via http://textz.com/adorno/donate.html.
>
> - Buy a copy of Robert Luxemburg's "The Conceptual Crisis of Private =
> Property as
> a Crisis in Practice" (http://textz.com/crisis). All proceedings
> will go to
> textz.com's fund for legal expenses.
>
> - Put our "Free Adorno" banner (http://textz.com/adorno/banner.gif) on =
> your
> website, and/or link to http://textz.com/adorno.
>
> - Meet textz.com at Neuro Festival, February 26-29, Munich, Germany
> (check
> http://neuro.kein.org for details) and join our discussion about
> further
> strategies in this case.
>
> - Select all, copy, paste, save, upload, share. Reappropriate. (And
> remember:
> there is no need to break what you can circumvent. Don't innovate, =
> imitate.)
>
> ———————————————————————–=
> ———
>
> Related links:
>
> Documentation of our correnspondence:
> http://textz.com/adorno/documentation.de.txt
> http://textz.com/adorno/documentation.en-babelfish.txt
>
> Press coverage:
> http://textz.com/adorno/press.de.txt
> http://textz.com/adorno/press.en-babelfish.txt
>
> Open Letter to Jan Philipp Reemtsma:
> http://textz.com/adorno/open_letter.txt
>
> The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction:
> http://textz.com/adorno/work_of_art.txt
>
> Franz Kafka on "intellectual property":
> http://textz.com/kafka
>
> Textz.com mission statement, early 2001:
> http://textz.com/concept
>
> What others say about textz.com:
> http://textz.com/press
>
> The textz that textz.com is all about:
> http://textz.com/cache
> http://textz.com/textz
>
> Some state-of-the-art copyright circumvention technologies:
> http://textz.com/trash
> http://textz.com/crisis
>
> Some more stuff we have not yet been sued for:
> http://textz.com/search
> http://textz.com/news
>
> Drop us a line, send us a text, or subscribe to our newsletter:
> http://textz.com/contact
>
> Finally, while freeing Adorno, please free the Grey Album too:
> http://textz.com/greyalbum/greyalbum.html
>
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