Oscar sits at Kate’s desktop computer on the table pushed against the living room wall when Kate ushers in Liz and Jake. Half a dozen people Liz doesn’t recognize are gathered around as Oscar’s fingers dance across the keys.
Liz tells Kate, “Maggie said she wasn’t coming tonight.”
“Thanks for letting me know. I thought she might pass,” Kate nods. “Glad you came out. She is all right though?”
Liz nods. “Yeah, just tired.”
Kate holds out a hand, “I’m stacking coats in the bedroom.”
Liz passes her jacket and turns at the sound of Adam’s raised voice, “You can’t do that, Oscar. It’s illegal!”
“Nick isn’t home very much, but when he is, he needs his news hit, Oz.” Kate turns to Oscar, wagging a finger. “So don’t be doing anything that’s gonna endanger my Internet connection.”
“I’m only downloading “Sita Sings the Blues”.”
“All right, then. Except already I’ve got it, so stop using my bandwidth.”
Adam is aghast. “But it’s piracy if you download movies.”
Oscar says, “No it isn’t.”
“He’s right, Adam.” Kate nods. “It’s Creative Commons.”
“Not really. How could that work for a movie?”
“You know,” Adam’s friend Dave says, “I remember reading that George Lucas didn’t get rich from Star Wars, he got rich from Star Wars merch.”
“Yeah,” says Jake, “I heard that too.”
Liz adds, “I put photos on Flickr under a CC license.”
“But why?” asks Adam.
“When I take pictures I want people to see the good ones. If I put them online then that happens. It’s that simple.”
“But how can you make a living if you give stuff away?”
“I get paid when I get hired to do work.”
“If your pictures are free on Flickr, why would anyone hire you?”
“My Flickr pics are an online portfolio. They show prospective clients just how good a photographer I am. And that’s what gives them reason to hire me.”
“But why pay for what they can get for free.”
“They only get free what I put out there. Stock photos often don’t cut it. Newspapers and magazines cover events. Insurance companies need proof if the claimant is a fraud. Performers want original album art. You can’t get custom photographs online for free.”
“And what about music?”
“I don’t know about music.”
Oscar asks, “Do you buy music you didn’t like?”
“Of course not, I only buy music I like.”
“And how do you know what you like?”
“Actually, I …” Adam stops, thinking. “Point taken. I never really thought it through.”
Kate stuffs her fingers in her mouth and emits a loud piercing whistle. Everybody stops dead and looks over at her. Looking pointedly at Oscar, Kate says, “I am sick to death of copyright. You guys wanna argue it to death, do it at lunch on your own time. Who’s up for watching Sita? Show of hands.” Kate looks and all hands have shot up.
“Okay, good.” Kate passes bowls of snack food as Oscar hooks the cables from the large screen TV to her laptop.
Dave tells Adam, “Not a bad idea, Sita‘s a lot of fun and it has been pretty tense around here lately.”
“I could use a little relaxing.” agrees Liz, a little surprised to hear the guys have found the last few days tense.
“At least they caught the guy.” says Kate.
“Have they?” Liz asks. “They’ve caught somebody. But what’s to say this is the right guy?”
“Gee thanks Liz. Just when I was starting to feel safer.”
“Sorry, Kate, I’m not trying to freak you out, I’m just saying it’d be good to keep being careful.”
“Of course it is the guy.” insists Adam. “The police wouldn’t have arrested him if it wasn’t.”
“They caught Boris yesterday,” says Jake. “Wasn’t him.”
“Maybe they’ll settle for anybody just so life could return to normal?” suggests Kate.
Liz says, “Kate’s right. The cops have to be under even more pressure than the school is to get the rapist caught.”
“But if they’ve got the wrong guy,” says Jake, “Then it still isn’t safe.”
“That would suck,” says Kate.
Oscar flicks off the lights so the dusky cartoon goddess shows up more clearly against the wall. “Okay, who wants to watch the movie?” asks Oscar.
Dave starts clapping like a wild man and in moments the rest follow suit. Everyone moves their chairs around so they can see the picture to its best advantage. Liz notes Jake’s sour look.
“Something wrong?” she whispers.
“Krystal is supposed to be coming.” says Jake quietly. Liz tactfully looks away with smile as the movie begins. Oscar douses the remaining light, leaving only a hint of light trickling under the kitchen door so the wall projection is revealed in stunning colour.
“Where’s Ethan?” Jake whispers to Liz.
Liz doesn’t want to explain she didn’t invite Ethan, so she touches her finger to her lips in the universal admonition to silence.
