In the US a judge has declared a series of paintings illegal because of copyright. They cannot be shown by their owners:
http://www.edwardwinkleman.com/2011/03/appropriation-prohibition-or-why-i.html
This will have a chilling effect on artistic production in the US. It’s also deeply silly.
In the EU a clothing manufacturer is suing an artist for making a painting including an image of one of their handbags. Again:
http://eyeteeth.blogspot.com/2011/03/louis-vuitton-sues-artist-nadia-plesner.html
This would have a chilling effect on artistic production in the EU if we had any kind of Fair Use culture here to chill.
But don’t worry, Fair Use still applies to lawyers’ blogs when they want to explain that it shouldn’t apply to artists:
http://artmeetslaw.blogspot.com/2011/03/as-simple-as-asking-for-permission.html
Permission culture and censorship may seem reasonable when they don’t apply to you. But they’re not.
This is the worst environment I’ve seen for artistic freedom in the West in some years. We urgently need to promote and protect artistic freedom as part of free culture and freedom of speech in general.