And Copyright begat Creative Commons

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Here's a turnaround: New Zealand and Australian readers can buy Nicki Greenberg’s bizarre, bitter-sweet graphic interpretation of The Great Gatsby. But for copyright reasons this book is not for sale in the USA or UK.

Why is Daisy portrayed as a pom-pom crossed with a worm? Why is Gatsby a morose cardboard sea horse? Why is Tom’s fancy woman a one-eyed creature with deformed cow’s udders?

Silly questions. I was quickly sucked into the glittering, melancholy, melodramatic jazz-age world of the mysterious Gatsby and his chronicler, Nick. Greenberg resurrects Scott Fizgerald’s original narrative and also the tone, with its exotic mix of lyricism, romanticism wistfulness and cynicism.

Greenberg, a Melbourne lawyer and illustrator, built up the volume in her "spare time". If you have the slightest interest in F. Scott Fitzgerald, graphic novels or 1920s New York, read this sweet and startling book. Oh, unless you live in the U.S. or the U.K.

The Creative Commons approach to copyright licensing arose from the internet and all its ramifications for intellectual property. (Don't get me started.)

Free seminar on Creative Commons, 27 October, at the National Library of New Zealand.
Creative Commons worldwide
The Great Gatsby: Nicki Greenberg's graphic novel adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic

1 comment

Oct 23, 2007 • Posted by Andy

It’s interesting how copyright can restrict access to information… it’s not something that is very obvious. Maybe CC can help. Here’s a brief intro to Creative Commons Aotearoa.

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