COPYCENSE

“In the decades since Woodstock, many a concert film has gotten mired in its own clichés. But as the Beastie Boys set out to commemorate a concert at Madison Square Garden, the hip-hop group had a different idea. Why not smash the model?

“They decided to lend hand-held video cameras to 50 fans, told them to shoot at will, and then presented the end result in movie theaters in all its primitive, kaleidoscopic glory.

“The result of this brainstorm is “Awesome … ,” which will be shown Saturday night at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, before being released by ThinkFilm in late March.”

Lorne Manly. This Is Not Spinal Tap: A Concert Film by Fans. The New York Times. Jan. 19, 2006.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.