New York City's Golden GatesWritten by Tara Renee Settembre
The greatest city on earth has another reason to brag with unveiling of long-awaited public art project The Gates by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Despite its popularity, some visitors feel $21 million art installation is not art at all. Whether a work of art or spectacle, orange flags strung like a ribbon throughout Central Park are sparking conversation and drawing in visitors by subway load.  According to Central Park Conservancy, which sells official Gates merchandise at Park’s entrance on 59th Street, 10 to 20 million people are expected to visit park during 16 days that The Gates are on display. “February is slowest month for tourism in city and exhibit has already brought an unexpected number to park, which is usually dead in winter,” said Central Park Conservancy staff member, Chris Trimbull, 25. “I think it’s more popular than anyone had realized.” Before The Gates opened, a mere 200,000 visitors were expected, however, day after Mayor Michael Bloomberg unfurled 1,089,882 square feet of streaming saffron fabric along 23 miles of park paths, attendance was already at 700,000 people. Standing 16 feet high, The Gates are attracting young, elderly, tourists and students alike, who took photographs, held hands, and observed temporary display, despite temperatures falling below freezing. New York's AM news station 1010 WINS recently conducted an online web poll asking if The Gates are art or joke. Out of 1298 respondents, 65% said joke. Lou Quillio is in agreement. With his sister and two daughters, he drove three hours from Saratoga, New York to see golden gates. “It’s just a thing, it’s less art and more social aspect, it’s an attraction and a spectacle,” said Quillio.
| | How to Find Public Domain ContentWritten by Joey Robichaux
One of easiest places to find authoritative public domain content is ... your local used bookstore or library!True -- virtually everything contained in books you'll find at these locations were protected by copyright. But ... it's also true that many of these copyrights have expired -- making contents of those volumes completely public domain. US copyright law has gone through several iterations -- but two things you need to remember are "75 years from copyright date" and "Sonny Bono"! The copyright law originally stated that a copyright would last for 75 years. Thus, if a book were copyrighted in 1900, copyright would expire in 1975. If a book were published in 1920, copyright would expire in 1995. If a book were copyrighted in 1922, copyright would expire in 1997. But ... if a book was copyrighted in 1923 or later, then things take on a whole new slant ... courtesy of then-Congressman Sonny Bono. You see, a particular item was originally copyrighted in 1923. It's copyright was due to expire in 1998 -- sending this item into public domain. This is normally not a problem -- truthfully, most people don't care about things copyrighted so far back. Expiring copyright can actually grant these works new life in public domain. In this case, though, item due to expire was a mouse -- Micky Mouse! It’s interesting that Disney has no problem using stories that are already in public domain – Sleeping Beauty, Treasure Island, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Three Musketeers, etc, etc – but they’re not too crazy about their flagship icon becoming available in public domain.
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