lierdumoa:

I get annoyed when people call the Anish Kappor vs. Stuart Semple thing a “petty art squabble.”

There are so many important technological applications for better light absorbing black paint besides just painting. NASA uses super light absorbing black to make better telescopes and more sensitive light sensors [source] [source]. Darker black paint can be used to make better cameras, film/video projectors, movie theaters, etc., etc. Black paint has a ton of applications beyond just being another pigment for eccentric rich painters to use.

By copyrighting the darkest black paint so that only he could use it, Anish Kapoor was denying the public access to new technology. 

ETA: People in the tags have pointed out that “he only copyrighted it for art use, so it’s still available for industrial applications.” 

Here’s the thing – “available for industrial applications” basically means “available to corporations.” It basically means that only the people with the right paperwork and the right legal status and the right amount of capital have access.

What about ordinary citizens? Teenagers with technical hobbies, or amateur inventors working out of their garages? They can’t afford to hire a team of lawyers just to get one jar of a perfectly safe new technology, and they shouldn’t have to.

When you say “it’s available for artistic use” what that means in legal terms is that any ordinary private citizen is allowed to use it for any purpose they want without having to jump legal hurdles.

Stuart Semple’s “petty squabble” is making a statement that 1) everyone should have the right access new technology, not just the eccentric rich and 2) any eccentric rich fuck who would try to deny the public their right to new technology is a sucking leech on society and deserves public ridicule.