An Open Letter to U.N. Owen and His Ilk
Dear U.N.,
I wrote the following fairly polite letter as a comment to post at your site but I'm not allowed to leave it unless I join your club. And I have no intention of doing so--mainly because you're just one of a number of Internet vigilantes who think they are upholding the violated rights of artists and savants. Well, like the oft-posted song says, "Something is happening / and you don't know what it is / do you Mr Owen?" Hey, you're not alone. Neither does the U.S. Congress or the Supreme Court. Anyway, here's what I want to say to you--mind you, politely, not in the surly,self-righteous tone you usually use--and others who are trying to destroy the greatest cultural underground the world has ever known:
I'm the guy who posted the Kenneth Rexroth poem about Sacco & Vanzetti at my blog (http://www.bestlittleblog.com). This is an act you called piracy.
Just for the record, poems are meant to be read and it is within my rights to post them as rallying cries to others (as long as the author receives full credit which they always do).
The goal of my blog is to introduce my son's generation to the glories of post-war American poetry and writing. That often involves exegesis or anecdote--and some kind of commentary on my part (which everyone is free to skip). I do not see this as infringment on the rights of these authors (most of whom are dead) because: 1) they are used to, and have often condoned, the free distribution of their poems in the service of a cause [mine is cultural literacy] and 2) they would be proud to see their poems used as exemplars and illustrations of great writing.
In other words, I see my blog as a classroom where the subject is modern American literature and these poems are handouts. My fervent hope is that seeing one of these treasures will deflect someone into a library or book store to find more. Who knows? Maybe they will google the writer's name and discover gold. If enough people start inquiring about Ed Dorn, his collected poems (out of print since the late 1970s) might be reissued.
The crime here isn't in my sharing these poems (for no personal gain) but your attempts to blocade this effort. The world is starving for the songs that people like me are posting. The Internet is a cultural and political lifeboat. Stop trying to torpedo it.
Regards,
David Federman
I wrote the following fairly polite letter as a comment to post at your site but I'm not allowed to leave it unless I join your club. And I have no intention of doing so--mainly because you're just one of a number of Internet vigilantes who think they are upholding the violated rights of artists and savants. Well, like the oft-posted song says, "Something is happening / and you don't know what it is / do you Mr Owen?" Hey, you're not alone. Neither does the U.S. Congress or the Supreme Court. Anyway, here's what I want to say to you--mind you, politely, not in the surly,self-righteous tone you usually use--and others who are trying to destroy the greatest cultural underground the world has ever known:
I'm the guy who posted the Kenneth Rexroth poem about Sacco & Vanzetti at my blog (http://www.bestlittleblog.com). This is an act you called piracy.
Just for the record, poems are meant to be read and it is within my rights to post them as rallying cries to others (as long as the author receives full credit which they always do).
The goal of my blog is to introduce my son's generation to the glories of post-war American poetry and writing. That often involves exegesis or anecdote--and some kind of commentary on my part (which everyone is free to skip). I do not see this as infringment on the rights of these authors (most of whom are dead) because: 1) they are used to, and have often condoned, the free distribution of their poems in the service of a cause [mine is cultural literacy] and 2) they would be proud to see their poems used as exemplars and illustrations of great writing.
In other words, I see my blog as a classroom where the subject is modern American literature and these poems are handouts. My fervent hope is that seeing one of these treasures will deflect someone into a library or book store to find more. Who knows? Maybe they will google the writer's name and discover gold. If enough people start inquiring about Ed Dorn, his collected poems (out of print since the late 1970s) might be reissued.
The crime here isn't in my sharing these poems (for no personal gain) but your attempts to blocade this effort. The world is starving for the songs that people like me are posting. The Internet is a cultural and political lifeboat. Stop trying to torpedo it.
Regards,
David Federman
posted by David Federman @ 10:12 AM
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