{"id":2118,"date":"2016-10-01T06:30:49","date_gmt":"2016-10-01T13:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=2118"},"modified":"2016-10-01T06:30:49","modified_gmt":"2016-10-01T13:30:49","slug":"what-arts-legislation-do-we-want-then-a-call-for-suggestions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/10\/what-arts-legislation-do-we-want-then-a-call-for-suggestions\/","title":{"rendered":"What arts legislation do we want then? A call for suggestions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"not<\/a>A few days ago blog neighbour Doug McLennan lamented<\/a> that Congress seems to have no interest in arts-related legislation, with no bills coming to floor on which we could even guess at how elected officials actually weigh the arts as a matter of national importance. I responded<\/a> that we should be careful what we wish for, that any legislation dealing with cultural sector would likely be a source of conflict, that would not necessarily result in a positive result for the arts (where by “the arts” I refer to those who are the audience and consumers, not just producers). I wrote:<\/p>\n

But I am going to urge caution on the vision thing. Because aside from \u201cart is good\u201d, reasonable people can differ on what that vision ought to be. A much bigger role for the NEA? OK, but what would that do to support for state and local arts councils, or to philanthropic support? More funding for arts education? Maybe, but what do we mean by \u201carts education\u201d, and what is it that would be sacrificed in otherwise highly pressed public schools to facilitate it? Copyright reform? Well, would that be to increase access to works, or to increase protections and compensation for copyright holders?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Doug replied<\/a> in turn that he could not agree:<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the problem. If the arts want to have a meaningful place in American culture, they have to lead. It\u2019s no longer obvious to most people \u2013 yes, most \u2013 that the \u201carts are good.\u201d We don\u2019t need government for the arts to succeed, but on a range of public policy and arts-specific issues, the arts need advocacy or policy will be set in ways that do not favor the arts.<\/p>\n

Copyright for example. The DMLA is a disaster for artists. You know that non-arts lobbyists are arguing for copyright reform and that what they\u2019re arguing for will likely not be in the interests of the arts (if recent experience is any guide). How about communications policy \u2013 cable regulation, social media platform censorship, net neutrality? Artists have a stake in all these issues. How about community development? That\u2019s an arts issue. Diversity? Again arts. Why <\/em>are the arts good? Why<\/em> should we invest in them?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Still I get nervous whenever Congress indicates that it wants to review copyright law. And I remain unsure as to what<\/em> legislation people would like to see.<\/p>\n

So, what do you<\/em> think? The comments for this post are a suggestion box: what arts policy changes would you<\/em> like to see? But, I’m going to make this a bit challenging: the suggestion cannot involve increasing taxes, or redirecting spending from non-arts related government programs, to give more to the arts. We have lots of advocacy along those lines already, and I’m not sure there’s much new to be said (which does not mean that advocacy is wrong, just that we already know this).<\/p>\n

Reallocations are ok. If you want to suggest “more money for the NEA” or “subsidized artist housing” or “put an artist in every school” you have to say from what arts program you would take money. Likewise with suggestions for changes in regulation – they cannot be “rob Peter to pay the arts”. Can be federal, state, local, and those from outside the US are welcome to weigh in (only fair, since I am not yet eligible to vote in the US).<\/p>\n

Have at it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few days ago blog neighbour Doug McLennan lamented that Congress seems to have no interest in arts-related legislation, with no bills coming to floor on which we could even guess at how elected officials actually weigh the arts as a matter of national importance. I responded that we should be careful what we wish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2118","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/suggestion-box.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-ya","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1314,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/05\/l3cs-in-the-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":2118,"position":0},"title":"L3C’s in the arts (updated with citation info)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I have a new working paper up on L3C's in the arts, which you can download for free here. If you were there, it's the paper I presented at Social Theory, Politics and the Arts in Seattle last October, cleaned up and revised. The abstract: Traditionally, the choice of organizational\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"no future?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/mule.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1371,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/06\/fixed-book-prices\/","url_meta":{"origin":2118,"position":1},"title":"Fixed book prices (updated)","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"June 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"France has passed anti-Amazon legislation. Publishing Perspectives reports: On Wednesday, the French parliament passed a long-debated law that will end Amazon.com\u2019s ability to offer a combined 5% discount and free shipping on books shipped to France, according to\u00a0Livres Hebdo.\u00a0 France\u2019s fixed book price law, dubbed \u201cThe Lang Law,\u201d was passed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"paid full price","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/french-reader.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2112,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/09\/what-should-congress-do-about-the-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":2118,"position":2},"title":"What should Congress do about the arts?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"September 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Blog neighbour Doug McLennan reviews the recent Congressional Arts Report Card produced by the Americans for the Arts Action Fund PAC. He notes that there isn't really a lot of material on which to base a report card - indeed, there were no recorded floor votes that were solely concerned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"where's the vision?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Mr-Smith.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Mr-Smith.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Mr-Smith.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Mr-Smith.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Mr-Smith.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Mr-Smith.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1468,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/08\/doras-amazing-tax-credit-adventure\/","url_meta":{"origin":2118,"position":3},"title":"Dora’s amazing tax credit adventure","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"August 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The New York Times Arts page reviews the new adventure of Dora the Explorer, now a little older, and starring in 'Dora and Friends: Into the City!', which apparently looks pretty suburban. And Dora's talking backpack is full of dollars, courtesy of New York state taxpayers. Variety reports: While states\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"indeed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/swiper-265x300.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2088,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/08\/bots-and-ticket-prices-and-supply-and-demand\/","url_meta":{"origin":2118,"position":4},"title":"Bots and ticket prices and supply and demand: updated 22-10-16","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"August 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Verge reports on new efforts from Lin-Manuel Miranda and New York Senator Chuck Schumer to crack down on those who use \"bots\" to quickly, and in bulk, purchase scarce tickets on primary sites to then resell on secondary markets at a mark-up. The story quotes Mr. Miranda saying, \"My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"'two tickets, great seats'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/robot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1074,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/02\/droit-de-suite\/","url_meta":{"origin":2118,"position":5},"title":"Droit de suite","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"February 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Legislation is proposed to bring droit de suite - a rule in which some artists receive a share of proceeds from some resales of their art - to the United States. The New York Times reports here, and blog neighbour Lee Rosenbaum analyses the proposal here. I will just deal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "issues"","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"beast of burden","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/auction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/auction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/auction.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2118"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2121,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2118\/revisions\/2121"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}