The New York Times reviews Jon Rouston’s movie theater videos, shots of the screen, audience, and ambience at various opening-day movie showings. Critic’s Notebook: When One Man’s Video Art Is Another’s Copyright Crime
. The problem is that this art has been outlawed in many states. That’s a side effect of the broad anti-camcorder statutes the MPAA has been pushing on many states, including California, despite the fact that its own insiders leak most movies to the public pre-release (study PDF).

It used to be the critics who’d tell us whether art was good or bad, original or imitative. Now it’s the lawyers. As the reviewer comments on art’s impoverished field:

It does not matter whether you think that Mr. Routson’s work is good or bad art; it is quite good enough, in my view. It does matter that the no-camcorder laws may not do much to stem pirating while making it increasingly difficult for artists to do one of the things they do best: comment on the world around them.

In the mix of songwriters and musicians surveyed by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, most don’t think the recording industry’s lawsuits in their name actually benefit artists.

Some 60% of those in the sample say they do not think the Recording Industry
Association of America’s suits against online music swappers will benefit musicians and
songwriters. Those who earn the majority of their income from music are more inclined
than “starving musicians” to back the RIAA, but even those very committed musicians do
not believe the RIAA campaign will help them. Some 42% of those who earn most of
their income from their music do not think the RIAA legal efforts will help them, while
35% think those legal challenges will ultimately benefit them.

Report (PDF)