Letters - 14 March 2014
From copyright concerns to 12 Years a Slave
Copyright concerns
I was delighted to see one of my cartoons, originally in the Parrot, the Westminster Meeting newsletter, reproduced (with my permission) in the Friend (28 February).
However, shortly afterwards, I discovered that my cartoon, as it appeared in the Friend, had been scanned and uploaded to a Quaker Meeting’s Facebook group – without crediting me and without my permission.
Had the Meeting in question asked for my permission in advance, I would have gladly granted this and been very pleased and flattered that they wanted to share my work. However, to copy someone’s artwork for wider distribution without asking permission is inconsiderate and has made me feel as if something has been stolen from me. Moreover, when I contacted the Facebook group to ask them to remove my artwork, they complied with my request but I received no apology. All in all, this was one of my more disappointing experiences with Quakers.
I appreciate that Friends sometimes want to share writing or art that has moved them, but would also like to remind Friends that creative work has had time and effort invested in it. The creator, therefore, maintains the important right to have control over where, and how, it is distributed. Not recognising this right has serious implications – for example, potentially reducing the income of hard-working artists.
Hayley Gullen
The building or the people
The geography of Britain is very different for those using public transport than for those with access to private cars. My neighbour used to travel through the area covered by six Area Meetings on his daily commute to work yet it would have been very difficult, or impossible, to visit any of the Meeting houses by public transport. The places where Friends live are constantly changing and no one has yet come up with a suggested Meeting place in South Lakeland that would be ideal for all Friends.
Meeting houses are a tangible witness to Quaker values and are often a valuable resource for community groups. Many visitors and local Friends I have spoken with value the sense of calm and history when they enter Swarthmoor Meeting House and Colthouse Meeting House.
There is the question: ‘Is a Quaker Meeting the members or the location?’ There are many Meetings with considerable assets and a declining membership that could, and perhaps should, transfer assets to the Meetings to which their members have moved or to Meetings that have growing memberships.
Perhaps now is the time to consider a nationally coordinated way of dealing with the holding of the Religious Society of Friends’ properties. Many Meetings are too small to have, within them, members who are professionally qualified to deal, competently, with finance and property matters.
Gareth Evans
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