Mark Zuckerberg’s non-appearance at the Commons select committee provided one of the major talking points today. We’re also looking at discussions around modernising Shakespeare and a debate over perceived musical plagiarism.
To join in the conversation you can click on the links in the comments below to expand and add your thoughts. We’ll continue to highlight more comments worth reading as the day goes on.
Mark Zuckerberg declines to give evidence personally to MPs about Facebook data scandal
Readers have been adding their thoughts while following developments in our politics live blog, which on Tuesday morning led with a Commons culture committee hearings.
‘Zuckerberg’s vague “we’ll respond” just is not enough’
Is there a petition to call on Facebook to inform all people who were affected by the breach in privacy? If my mates filled out a form that allowed third parties to access my data, then this is a privacy breach that happened under Facebook’s terms and conditions. I feel users who had their privacy breached deserve to be told specifically and Zuckerberg’s vague “we’ll respond” just is not enough.
I would like to sign a petition to that effect, or if none is available, start one. Any help? Any pointers?
fuddyduddy007
‘I don’t understand Theresa May’s attitude’
I’m surprised that not more is made of the “outing” by one of the Prime Minister’s spokesmen of the Vote Leave “whistleblower”, a man of Pakistani origin for whose family there are serious implications. May wasn’t involved in Vote Leave, so I don’t understand her attitude. In any case, she should resign over the action by her spokesman, whose statement as a No 10 spokesman surely had her authority.
Michael Staley
Margot Robbie is rethinking Shakespeare’s women. It’s about time
Debate is continuing beneath an article discussing how or whether to rethink Shakespeare as society strives for equality.
‘The better approach would be to have talented writers generate new plays’
How is this to be done? Will the plays, or parts of them, be rewritten/changed to make them more acceptable? Will all of literature eventually be dealt with in this way?
Surely the better approach would be to have talented writers generate new plays which show women in other lights and leave existing works alone. They are what they are and have survived because of their quality. Or don’t we have writers capable of doing the job?
McMurdo
Did Lana Del Rey plagiarise Radiohead? A note-by-note analysis
Readers have been debating the issues in this analysis of whether the “Lana Del Radiohead” nickname is a fair one. Here are some of your thoughts.
‘There seems to be an issue between inspiration and plagiarism’
Just a point. Music, like most arts, have been about borrowing. At some point, due to copyright laws, borrowing became stealing.
Disney would be the first to sue you if you appropriated one of their characters into your own art, but Disney has made it’s fortune on stories out of copyright. Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid etc. Toy Story owes a great deal to The Velveteen Rabbit and pop culture.
There seems to be an issue between inspiration and plagiarism. Firstly, nothing is original anyway, but a composite of many other texts. Dylan won a Nobel prize for ‘Contributions to Great American Songbook’, but he is no less original (or deserving) than Tupac or Sun House. All borrow to make new.
Remember TS Eliot: “Major poets steal. Minor poets borrow.” Lana Del Ray is definitely in the minor key.
quickspace
Comments have been edited for length. This article will be updated throughout the day with some of the most interesting ways readers have been participating across the site.
