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| |year=2016 | | |year=2016 |
| |region=North America | | |region=North America |
| |artist=Erin Pike, | | |artist=Nicole Touchet, |
| |subject=Copyright, Political/Economic/Social Opinion | | |subject=Nudity |
| |confronting_bodies=Samuel French, Inc. | | |confronting_bodies=Property One, Inc. |
| |medium=Theatre | | |medium=Painting |
| |date_of_action=February-March 2016 | | |date_of_action=March 2016 |
| |location=Seattle, WA | | |location=Lafayette, LA |
| |description_of_content=In early February, the one woman play That’swhatshesaid enjoyed a four-night run in the tiny venue at Gay City Arts in Seattle. Created and performed by Erin Pike and written by Courtney Meaker, the play consists entirely of dialogue culled from the most-produced plays of the 2014—2015 season. These include Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez and 4,000 Miles by Amy Herzog, all published by drama lit mega-publisher Samuel French. In total, eleven plays were sourced to generate the script; Pike worked on the one hour-long piece for over two years. By collaging together preexisting texts, quoting lines and toying with their contexts, the play takes on status quo perceptions of women and shines a light on the culture that perpetuates them. | | |description_of_content=Nicole Touchet launched Galerie Touchet in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana to showcase the work of emerging local artists, including herself. For the annual March ArtWalk, Touchet mounted a solo exhibition of her own paintings: large-scale nude self-portraits. |
| |description_of_incident=on the second night of the performance, several hours before curtain, Gay City Arts Executive Director Fred Swanson received a cease and desist letter from the licensing and compliance arm of Samuel French. They wanted to shut down the play. The letter claims that its use of copyrighted material, specifically from Bad Jews, is infringing. Following the letter, Bruce Lazarus, executive director/vice president for Samuel French, called and left a voicemail on the cellphone of the play's creator and sole performer, Erin Pike. He claimed the production was "illegal" and said that Samuel French would "go after" Gay City Arts unless they cancelled the show. | | |description_of_incident=After the show opened, Touchet received an email from Property One, Inc., the building management company, demanding that she remove her work: “You have to take down the nude pictures you have in your gallery. Part of the agreement to rent you the space was to not display nude pictures.” Instead of removing her work, Touchet covered the nudes up with cut-out newspaper bikinis, then posted a sign on the front window: “Censored by Management.” |
| |description_of_result=The show went on. Whenever a line from Bad Jews came up, someone offstage would shout "redacted!" and Pike would go ahead miming the stage directions but not speaking the accompanying lines. The redactions led to moments of drama that hadn't existed before this external pressure from Samuel French. Since, the creators of the play received two more cease and desist letters, one for lines it doesn't even contain. Several parties have pointed out that the manner in which the play uses pre-existing content satisfies all the conditions of fair use. | | |description_of_result=The artists and small businesses of Lafayette rallied around the cause of freedom of expression with a city-wide Nude ArtWalk and 'Free the Nipple' campaign. Touchet closed her gallery once the lease was up and moved to New Orleans. |
| |image=Erin-pike thatswhatshesaid phototimsummers02.jpg | | |image=Touchet3.jpg |
| |source=http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2016/02/08/23539836/erin-pike-and-thatswhatshesaid-went-on-despite-cease-and-desist-order-legal-ramifications-remain-uncertain | | |source=https://www.instagram.com/p/BDlwilBly-v/?taken-by=nicolbeth |
| }} | | }} |
| [http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2016/02/05/23534251/samuel-french-tries-to-shut-down-thatswhatshesaid-an-hour-before-curtain Samuel French Tries to Shut Down That'swhatshesaid an Hour Before Curtain by Rich Smith Feb 5, 2016] | | [http://theind.com/article-22967-Lafayette-artist-ordered-to-cover-nudes.html Lafayette artist ordered to cover nudes, by Walter Pierce, April 1, 2016] |
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| | [http://ncac.org/blog/shameless-in-lafayette-nude-artwalk NCAC Statement: The Human Body is Not an Object of Shame: The National Coalition Against Censorship Salutes Nude ArtWalk] |
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| [http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2016/02/08/23539836/erin-pike-and-thatswhatshesaid-went-on-despite-cease-and-desist-order-legal-ramifications-remain-uncertain Erin Pike and That'swhatshesaid Went on Despite Cease and Desist Order, Legal Ramifications Remain Uncertain by Rich Smith, Feb 8, 2016]
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| [https://soundcloud.com/actualseannelson/bruce-lazarus-voicemail#t=0:00 Bruce Lazarus Voicemail]
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| [http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2016/02/08/23542457/samuel-french-sends-another-cease-and-desist-letter-about-thatswhatshesaid-this-time-over-lines-that-arent-even-in-the-show Samuel French Sends Another Cease and Desist Letter About That'swhatshesaid, This Time Over Lines That Aren't Even in the Show by Rich Smith Feb 8, 2016]
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| [http://www.thestranger.com/blogs/slog/2016/02/11/23558939/thatswhatshesaid-receives-third-cease-and-desist-this-time-from-dramatists-play-service-inc That'swhatshesaid Receives Third Cease and Desist, This Time from Dramatists Play Service, Inc. by Rich Smith Feb 11, 2016]
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