Do you think myspace goes to far when censoring rennisance art?

Question

They wont allow certain paintings from Hieronymus Bosch henry fuseli hell they even deleted a painting I had up of the crucifixtion.

Is this level of censorship healthy?

I know its their right... I am simply asking if it is right.

Answer 1

I think it is silly that they would do that.

However, for every corporate decision like that, they are only worried about themselves, not the morality of the user or the public. They're not saying that allowing the painting to be posted is a copyright infringement or somehow morally wrong, they are just saying that someone might claim it is and cause a lot of trouble for them.

Take youtube, for example. Whoever runs the site was obviously fine with allowing copyrighted material until a bunch of big companies came along and said 'cut it out or we'll sue'. Startup video sharing sites of the future will likely have stricter copyright enforcement from the outset, just to save themselves trouble.

****. Did yahoo! censor that? It's the same principle: a company doesn't allow some material because they don't want to hear it from a team of lawyers.

Answer 2

Myspace is a privately held domain and if they want to censor the content of what goes on their site whether it is pornography or say a piece by Hieronymous Bosch it is fine with me, although I personally wouldnt do it. However, when we enter the public domain, say for example the public library and we start pulling art books off the shelf because someone deems the work unfit for the public then I have a real issue. If you think of it this way, Myspace's decision to censor certain works of art may be beneficial in promoting the publics interest in art as it generates curiosity as to why these images are so taboo. On a final note Myspace does not define the internet nor is it one of the great portals of art on the interent, if you go to google you can find tons of information on Bosch or any other classical artist for that matter.

Answer 3

It's not censorship because they're not preventing the art from existing.

They own the website and because of that they can do whatever they want with it. If they feel something is unnacceptable they can change or remove it.

A website functions like a workplace or a home. If you were to go into an office building or somebody's house and put a painting up, they have every right to take it down and remove it from their property. It's not censorship, it's their right.