Copyrighting Che

Hernández-Reguant, Ariana. (2004). Copyrighting Che: Art and Authorship under Cuban Late Socialism. Public Culture, 16, 1-29.

The author, Ariana Hernandez-Reguant, uses a copyright lawsuit filed and won by Alberto Diaz Gutierrez, better known in Cuba as “Korda” to exemplify the shift in ideals regarding individual labor and intellectual property rights on a global scale in late socialist Cuba. She finds that in an attempt in the late 1990’s and early 21^st century to succumb to the benefits of neoliberal economic values, socialist Cuba loosened the reins on copyrights and royalties paid to artists from international markets, leading to personal wealth growth for the artists and creating a more independent middle class. The irony in the Cuban regime allowing for these changes while in an attempt to cater to demands from countries with neoliberal agendas is never fully developed. Instead she carefully outlines specific incidents and court cases that shaped this policy without explicitly drawing the connection between the expansions of individual rights over socialist images in an attempt to join trade organizations that foster privatization.