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Surely not paying for a copy of the artist's work is illegal all over the world?? Unless we need to think in elaborate conspiracy plots that want to undermine the artists of one particular nation by stimulating the enjoyment (!) of their work for free....not a very iron-cast strategy, I don't think.... Do explain what you are hinting at, if you like...or can...

They say nowadays it's a global village, but for some countries it's not. There are rules to support Iranian artists (which is not taken seriously by most people) , but non for those out side of Iran. And illegal being not allowed by the law, when there's no law, then it's not illegal and when it's not illegal, then it's legal.

My lap top runs on a cracked windows and I have cracked Adobe photoshop, premiere, after effects, acrobat, audition installed, plus some other cracked programs, like maya. Also the office suite. And I don't feel bad, because most of those companies are based in U.S. and they don't care about us, they stole our money and killed our people, and did the same to few other countries. Adobe web site doesn't allow users with Iran's ip address. Why sould I care about them. I know there's a difference between u.s. government and u.s. citizen and u.s. companies but companies follow government's rules.

When it comes to art, is it really art or just another product? Aren't nearly all of them sponsored by brands and sold by companies?

Where I live, you can't buy those thing working a regular job. You need to save all of your earnings for more than a year to just buy 3d max (about 3000$).

Those price tags are not designed for us, even if the contents are.

Good for you cracking away! (I join you in all your sentiments and actions.) You don't even need to justify my dear friend. I hear you and your indignation (you are too far above the infantile ones in this world to even be angry). Politics are shit for being too dumb for words. The money that follows them corrupts everything we could be (artists, all of us!). What I love about Andy Goldsworthy is that he (seldom) leaves a product as an artist: his art is reassumed into nature and the end result is the process. One of the reasons I did not pursue art is this very concern of the added weight in matter it makes (canvases, or blocks of stone etc). It is very artificial to build buildings only to house art (musea and galleries). Yes, they can make for modern temples or halls of contemplation (but seldom do, because here too money talks so loud we cannot hear ourself resonate properly), but the art of the future is going to have to become much more intangible, even behind the scenes. Like in the art of motherhood, the art of studenthood (the eternal student that I am). The art of making love when surrounded by the Enemy.... (Which almost sounds illegal, for there being no law to encourage this!)