A follow up to this note from a few days ago -
Under the threat of legal action by the New York Times, a poet has suppressed three pieces he posted online.
Brian Kim Stefans had created three pieces that offered a kind of performative duet involving establishment media (the Times) and situationist rhetoric (Raoul Vaneigem). In his blog entry of Oct. 29, Stefans explained he'd been given a cease and desist order by the Times and 10 days to comply with it.
He has complied, replacing his work with an image and a brief explanation:
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This page has been removed as per request of the New York Times.
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It should be noted that Stefans did not launch a new print publication that used the venerable Times template. He didn't try to sell his pieces. He didn't seek to compete with the Times or to hack into the Times' site. He simply employed elements of the paper to create performances, which he called detournements, in a virtual space.
Your thoughts welcome.
