Copyright, Thanks & Links

I do not guard every word I have written and every image I have created over the years. I detest, when grandchildren, like in the case of James Joyce, out of sheer greed use their entire life to chase everyone, who quotes a bit from their famous grandfather’s literary work or use a photo of him in an article. I detest, when all sorts of tricks are used to continuously prolong a copyright.....


I find it ridiculous, when the entertainment industry employ a bunch of highly paid lawyers to chase teenagers, presenting them with horrible economical claims if they download a couple of songs, they would never have dreamed of buying on a CD anyway. To refute the threats, the teenagers or their parents, have to employ other highly paid lawyers to point out how ridiculous these claims are. In Denmark, these two established groups call themselves "The Anti-Pirate Group" and "The Pirate Group" respectively.

I find it ridiculous, when collage artists feel limited in their use of even tiny bits of illustrations taken from other artists’ works, as well as when music composers working with sampling are chased to the extent that three notes in a given sequence can trigger off a costly process of ‘clearing’ a music piece. If a collage artist is so lucky to get her work published in a book or otherwise, the publisher expects that she present a list of sources for every tiny bit used in the work. It can be thousands of different sources and who can keep track of that?

I find it just as ridiculous, when a contemporary artist can sell a painting for a high price and still, according to copyright laws, can claim a copyright to it. The same applies, when public art museums claim a copyright to photos of old works in their possession.
Copyright laws were created to secure artists, writers, composers and other persons working creatively, a reasonable security that their works were not being capitalized on by third parties within a reasonable and limited period (in the USA, this period was 14 years around year 1900, with the possibility of prolongation for another 14 years). To secure this right, artists in most countries had themselves to register their works officially. Over the years the copyright period has been extended up to 90 years after the death of the artist, so a long row of descendants can continue claiming their rights. All this to secure, that other persons and commercial enterprises can continue an economical exploitation of works created ages ago and, additionally, create a fat income for a multitude of ‘expert’ lawyers.

The original intentions of copyright laws were reasonable, in that the creative artist in general shall be recognized and credited for her work is a matter of course. The way the laws have developed is a disaster. The development of the Internet has, however, made it improbable, that the current system can be maintained in the long run. Commercial enterprises must soon realize, that they are loosing the game and adopt to reality, instead of using their energy on a war they can not win.

There are only a few restrictions when copying from this site:

Note: In Wikipedia I noted under the headline of "Appropriation Art" the following definition, which equals that of collage art:

..."To appropriate something involves taking possession of it. In the visual arts, the term appropriation often refers to the use of borrowed elements in the creation of new work. The borrowed elements may include images, forms or styles from art history or from popular culture, or materials and techniques from non-art contexts. Since the 1980s the term has also referred more specifically to quoting the work of another artist to create a new work. The new work does not actually alter the original per se; the new work uses the original to create a new work. In most cases the original remains accessible as the original, without change.
The nature of appropriation art, the borrowing of elements for new work, has resulted in contentious copyright issues which reflects more restrictive copyright legislation. The U.S. has been particularly litigious in this respect. A number of case-law examples have emerged that investigate the division between transformative works and derivative works. Many countries are following the U.S. lead toward more restrictive copyright, which risks making this art practice difficult if not illegal. Canada is currently involved in debating copyright with extraordinary public and artist reaction"...

Thanks

It is not a tradition in this country - Denmark - as it is in the USA and other mainly English speaking countries, that any book published includes an endless list of people, who have contributed to its success, including the book editor who, on behalf of the editor, did all she could to prevent the author’s own intentions to come true, through family members to the author’s grandmother’s old cat „for just being there through my childhood...". You will not see a list like that here. Instead you will find names of people: tarotists, authors, writers, artists and film directors, whose works through the years have influenced or inspired me in one way or another. Some are people, I have met, some are people I have or had a correspondence with, some just left a lasting imprint on me through their works. The lists - in erratically order - are the result of a hasty brainstorm and there are many others who could just as well have been mentioned.

One person, however, has to be particularly mentioned: Arnell Ando. The first time I ‚met‘ Arnell was when she back in 1996, sent me her just self-published deck/book set, ‚Transformational Tarot‘ to review in Manteia. For the same issue, which happened to be the very last issue printed, I also received Shirley Gotthold’s ‚The Transformational Tarot‘. Due to the name similarity, these two decks became part of a double review. My review of Arnell’s deck/book set was a bit reserved, particularly regarding the accompanying book, even though I was positive towards the deck itself. What I, however, did not realize at that time was, that Arnell’s ‚ Transformational Tarot‘ was the very beginning of a new era in tarot, the era of self-creating and self-publishing personal tarot decks. We had seen collage decks already as, for example, James Wanless’ purely commercial Voyager Tarot-enterprises, but here we had a very personal deck, reflecting the artist’s own experiences and emotions. Before the end of the 20th Century very many tarotists had, inspired by ‚Transformational Tarot‘, taken up the challenge of creating their own decks, supported by an increasing development of useful techniques in the form of computer programs, scanners and colour printers.

When I stopped publishing Manteia in 1997, I was filled up to the throat with tarot, having reviewed 400 books and 470 decks during a period of about 7 years. No more tarot for me. My connection to the tarot community soon became sparse. Arnell was, however, still there, always caring and encouraging in our frequent correspondence, which continued year after year. Additionally, I had the great pleasure of meeting her in person at the International Tarot Society’s Congress in Chicago in 2002.

From time to time the idea of making parts of Manteia and other of my tarot writings available on a website had crept up, stimulated by frequent requests for the long ago sold out back-issues. Even though I have experience with computer design of printed material like books and magazines, my involvement with the publication world was at a time, when web-page design was in its very beginning. I gave up the idea again, realizing that an on-line project would demand a lot more time to update my minimal knowledge of webdesign than I could find time for. One day, Arnell as a rescuing angel, offered to design and maintain this site. Without Arnell’s generous offer, www.manteia-online.dk would never have come into being. I am very, very grateful.

Influences and inspirations over the years

the tarotists: Robert V. O’Neil, Eckhard Graf, Stuart R. Kaplan, Rafál Prinke, Guido Gillabel, Aleister Crowley, Eden Gray, Antoine Court de Gebelin, Pat Zalewsky, Gert Ørnbøl, Mouni Sadhu, Alfred Douglas, Samuel L. Mathers, Julia Orsini, John Starr Cooke, the APA-tarot Group, Gary Ross, Mary Greer, Diane Wilkes, Tracey Hoover, Janet Berres, Linda Falorio, Michele Jackson, Katlyn Miller, Arthur E. Waite, Oswald Wirth, Eileen Connolly, Jack Hurley, Juliet Sharman-Burke, Papus, Ron Decker, Lon Milo duQuette. the authors and writers: Albert Camus, Israel Regardie, Ron Decker, Gail Fairfield, Nigel Pennick, William G. Grey, Carl G. Jung, Eliphas Leví, R. A. Gilbert, Timothy Leary, Melinda Boyd Parsons, Gary Ross, Michael Dummett, Robert A. Gilbert, Josef Cambell, Marie Lo Parco, Gertrude Moakley, Pat & Chris Zalewsky, Arthur Schopenhauer, Allen Ginsburg, Jack Kerouac, Wilhelm Reich, Edgar Morin, Colin Wilson, Friederic Nietsche, D.T. Suzuki, Paul Auster, Cynthia Giles, Brian Williams, Lon Milo du Quette, Akron, Chick & Sandra Tabatha Cicero, Allan Watts, Wilhelm Reich, Joseph Needham, Max Frisch, Friedrich Nietzsche, James Joyce, Edgar Morin, Stewart Culin, Philip K. Dick. the filmdirectors: Jean-Luc Godard, David Lynch, Jaques Demy, Agnes Varda, Fassbinder, Antonioni, Bertolucci, Bunuel, Federico Fellini, Cohen Bros., Lars von Trier, Søren Vinterberg, Wim Wenders, Patrice Leconte, Mikael Haneke, David Cronenbrg, Krzyszlof Kieslowsky, Atom Egyan, Alan Resnais, Claude Lelouch,. Carlos Saura, Woody Allen, Jim Jarmouch, Pedro Almodovar, Denys Arcand, Catherine Breillat , Louis Malle. the artists: Alfred Jensen, Niki St.Phalle, Elisabetta Cassari, Amerigo Folchi, Osvaldo Menegazzi, Michel Desimon, Asger Jorn, Moina Mathers, Pamela Colman Smith, Frieda Harris, Edward Hopper, Michael Kutzer, Sophie Calle, Öyvind Fählström, Joseph Cornell, Francis Bacon. the collectors: Vito Arienti, Adam McLean, Norman R. Handelsman, Susan Arenz, Saskia Jansen, Piero Alligo, Yasuhiko Hirota, Guido Gillabel....

Links

Many websites have quite a large number of links to other sites. Likely because of the axiom ‚...if I point to you, you point to me‘. Since there are an endless number of web-sites related to tarot, I’ve decided to list only a few:

www.arnellart.com
At her site Arnell presents her activities and products (which can be ordered): collage tarot decks (handmade and printed), handcrafted miniature shops, mirrors, dolls etc. The site also hosts a section devoted to the well-known Italian artist and card maker Osvaldo Menegazzi (Il Meneghello) plus a section for the Italian „ Museeo di Tarocchi", which you with an advantage can visit before you go to this museum’s own site.

www.tarotpassages.com The site was initiated by Michele Jackson and later taken over by Diane Wilkes. Even though it has not been updated since January 2006, it is still an indispensable source for tarot deck reviews up to that time. Hundreds and hundreds of decks are discussed.

www.association.tarotstudies.org The web-site of the Australia-based ‚Association of Tarot Studies‘. Decks, CDs, courses and books for sale, including my own „The Story of the Waite-Smith Tarot". The association arranges congresses and took over the „Tarot Lifetime Award’- project from the ‚International Tarot Society‘. A free monthly newsletter can be downloaded as a pdf-file. A certain preference for the Marseilles pattern can be noticed.

www.alchemywebsite.com Adam McLean has for years been devoted to Alchemy, publishing „The Hermetic Journal" and several early alchemical texts. Some years ago he, however, turned into being what I’ll call an ‚aggressive tarot collector‘, who in a very short time accumulated loads of tarot decks. The decks are shown with three illustrations each - in order of accession- and not much text. Adam also produces and sells limited edition tarot decks, paintings and much more. The site is worth visiting for the illustrations, but take a deep inhalation before you enter.
www.tarotcollectors.com Another of Adam McLean’s enterprises; a discussion group for tarot collectors. Like all discussion groups, you can’t entirely depend on the contents. I checked a few entries dealing with decks, I know about in detail, and the statements about them were all wrong.

www.tarotpedia.com Based upon same principles as Wikipedia and with the same problems, this site concentrates on the theme of tarot.

www.themysticeye.com Dawn Stevens’ site has descriptions and illustrated reviews of quite a lot of tarot decks. You can buy decks too, including some of Dawn’s own designs. I am particularly fascinated by Dawn’s own surrealistic/symbolic paintings as shown in the „gallery" (and some of the other shown artist’s works too). The only annoying thing being that the „mystic eye" watermark is placed across the images.

http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/ and http://home.comcast.net/~pamela-c-smith/ Holly Voley’s two websites dealing respectively with the Waite-Smith Tarot and Pamela Colman Smith’s art. Large high-resolution illustrations of the early Waite-Smith editions and lots of Pamela Colman Smith related material you can’t find anywhere else. '

www.museodeitarocchi.net The web-site of the Italian „Museeo di Tarocchi", a private owned museum situated near Bologna in a picturesque and restored building from the 17th Century. The museum initiates and runs various events, like mail art projects, sightseeing and courses. Several tarot decks, published by the museum in limited editions, are offered for sale. Unfortunately, the site is rather unstructured and can be difficult to navigate (see also ‘arnellart.com’ above).

www.tarot-history.com Jean-Claude Flornoy’s web-site is devoted to his intense study of the Marseilles Pattern and its origins. Limited editions of reconstructions of early decks are published and available from the site.

www.tarotgarden.com A formidable source for not only mainstream tarot products, but also rare and long ago out-of-stock decks. People do, however, complain that the site does not list prices of the latter but they do ask you to ask....

www.creativecommons.org An alternative way to consider copyright rules. Lawrence Lessig’s book ‘Free Culture’ can be downloaded freely here.

www.nigelpennick.com The website of Nigel Pennick, well known British author of books and articles on themes like runes, geomancy, the Northern traditions, games, British folklore and much more. Most of Nigel's books were reviewed in Manteia.

This site designed & maintained by Arnell's Art
All contents contributed by K. Frank Jensen