In Part #1 of this exclusive 2-part interview, Sita Sings the Blues creator Nina Paley talked about her inspirations for the film, and how it came together. In this section, Paley talks about some of the negative reactions she's received from members of the South Asian community, and the problems she's having getting it released.
Current US copyright laws have essentially prevented this award-winning movie from ever coming out in theatres, or on DVD. Despite the fact that Annette Hanshaw's recordings entered the public domain in the 1980's, the compositions she recorded have not. According to Paley's website, various music publishers – including Warner-Chappell, Universal Music Publishing Group and Sony-ATV – are demanding $15,000 to $26,000 for each song. They have also turned down a possible royalty based on the film's revenues.
For a taste of Sita Sings the Blues, you can check out the trailer (and a glimpse of the controversy) by clicking here.
You said you've had some negative reactions to Sita from some members of the South Asian community. How so?
"My blog was overrun by angry trolls describing how I should be killed, raped, etc. I had to switch from Blogger to Wordpress in order to manage the abusive comments.
"Here are some typical sentiments (Writer's note: the copious spelling mistakes made by the original posters were retained) :
"'Personal hearbreak my ***. This is just a pathetic attempt to insult my religion in the garb of intellecutalism (sic). The truth is this nina w***e does not have the courage to depict Islam in such a ridiculing manner.'"
or
"'Does this nina b***h has the courage to make funny vedios on islam and depicting mohomad (sic) as a cartoon caracter (sic). I bet she does not because all she is going to get in return is a**l rape or she might even be beheaded. So you can shove freedom of speech up your dirty behind.'"
(Writer's Note: On the other hand, Sita has received some great reviews from Sepia Mutiny, a website run by 2nd generation South Asians)
Your biography emphasizes your restlessness: you burned out on Fluff after 2 years, you got bored with "accessible children's films" after 2001's "Fetch!" and you worked with 3 different styles of animation in Sita to keep from getting bored. How has had this artistic restlessness affected your career, both good and bad?
"I just think of myself as an artist, channeling ideas. Like I wrote above, I'm always changing and growing, and these changes need to be expressed in my work. They come out as different styles, different ideas, and different projects. If I traded on my skills as a commodity, yes this would be a liability. Moneyed contracts demand consistent, stable work. But art isn't a commodity, it is a gift, and letting it change allows it (and me) to grow."
What else are you working on right now? What's next for you?
"My next project will be about Free Speech and Free Culture. (Sita Sings the Blues has become) a victim of unconstitutional, anti-competitive, anti-speech copyright laws in the US.
"I'm still struggling to clear rights to compositions that were supposed to be in the Public Domain in the 1980's. I'm hemorrhaging money I don't have into trying to 'negotiate' with unresponsive (unless they're suing you) corporations who are unreachable without expensive middlemen - lawyers, rights clearing houses, etc. I've lost over $10,000 just trying to reach these a******s, and have gotten nowhere. They're asking for about $220,000, which far exceeds the entire budget of the film.
"Legally, I can't even give the film away for free - the Big Media corporations that dictate our laws through buying congress, have made my creative work a federal crime. They call it "stealing," but it's the corporations are stealing from us, from the Public Domain.
"I'd also say they've stolen any possible money I could have made from the film, but that would imply they possess that money; they don't. Instead, we all have no money from the film. Their laws prevent the film from making any money at all. If I could make money, I could share it with them; but they'd rather kill my film, and every other project like it, and any wealth it could generate.
"My days are spent trying to get through this morass, and reading books by Lawrence Lessig, and thinking about how to express my experience through my next project. Maybe it'll be a graphic novel, maybe a film, maybe both. I'm still in the 'research' phase."
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