{{Short description|American artist, writer, and activist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}} '''Clinton Fein''' (born 1964 in South Africa) is an artist, writer and activist, noted for his company '''Apollomedia''' and its controversial website Annoy.com, as well as its [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] victory against [[Janet Reno]], [[United States Attorney General]], regarding the [[constitutionality]] of the [[Communications Decency Act]] in 1997.<ref name=Mills>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9809/29/annoyspeech.idg/| first=Elinor| last=Mills| title=U.S. court protects 'annoying' online speech| work=CNN| date=29 September 1998| accessdate=2014-11-19}}</ref>
This victory, a landmark for [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] rights, won Fein's right to disseminate his art.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990419S0022 |first=Malcolm |last=Maclachlan |title=Annoy.com Downplays Supreme Court Defeat |publisher=TechWeb |date=19 April 1999 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20010413135732/http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990419S0022 |archivedate=13 April 2001 }}</ref> Fein won another federal First Amendment lawsuit to remove a government-imposed [[gag order]].<ref>{{cite news| first1=Jon| last1=Rhine| first2=Todd| last2=Stein| url=http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2000/09/18/newscolumn1.html| title=Ungagged CEO of Annoy.com sinks teeth into critics| work=[[American City Business Journals|San Francisco Business Times]]| date=15 September 2000| accessdate=2014-11-19}}</ref> As recognition, Fein received a nomination for a [[PEN_American_Center_inactive_awards#PEN/Newman's_Own_First_Amendment_Award_(1993–2006)|PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award]] in 2001. Fein now presides the board of First Amendment Project,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The First Amendment Project |url=https://thefirstamendment.org/ |access-date=2026-05-25 |website=thefirstamendment.org}}</ref> a nonprofit organization that protects and promotes freedom of information, expression, and petition.
== Early life and career ==
Born and raised in [[Johannesburg, South Africa]], Fein graduated from the [[University of the Witwatersrand]], Johannesburg, in 1986, with a Bachelor of Arts in [[Industrial Psychology]]. After living in New York for a couple of years, Fein moved to Los Angeles, where he began reporting directly to the President of [[Orion Pictures]], as part of the creative team for numerous films, among them Academy Award-winning ''[[Dances with Wolves]]'' and ''[[The Silence of the Lambs (film)|The Silence of the Lambs]]''.
From the outset, Fein's work has led him into some high-profile confrontations. In 1994, his [[CD-ROM]] ''[[Conduct Unbecoming: Gays and Lesbians in the US Military]]'', based on the book by renowned investigative reporter [[Randy Shilts]] that examined the issue of gays in the military, used digital technology as an art form. When the US Navy unsuccessfully attempted to block its release,<ref name=Ness>{{cite news| url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/CD-ROM-with-gay-sailors-released-3150731.php| first=Carol| last=Ness| title=CD-ROM with gay sailors released| work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]| date=8 March 1995}}</ref> it became the first CD-ROM to triumph under First Amendment protections.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.clintonfein.com/conduct_navy_dispute.html| title=United States Navy Censorship Dispute| publisher=www.clintonfein.com}}</ref> ''Conduct Unbecoming'' won the [[Critic's Choice Award]], was praised by [[Wired Magazine]] as "a tantalizing peek at the potential of CD-ROM publishing," and dubbed "evolutionary" by [[Rolling Stone Magazine]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.clintonfein.com/conduct_reviews.html| title=Conduct Unbecoming Reviews| publisher=www.clintonfein.com}}</ref>
== Art and law ==
Fein was the first South African-born American to challenge government restrictions on technological communications when he filed a federal lawsuit 30 January 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=10012 |first=David |last=Hudson |title=Federal court rules that annoy.com may continue to annoy |publisher=First Amendment Center |date=25 September 1998 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828143317/http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=10012 |archivedate=28 August 2007 }}</ref> Fein, represented by Michael Traynor of [[Cooley Godward LLP]] and by [[William Bennett Turner]] of [[Rogers, Joseph, O'Donell and Phillips]], filed a lawsuit against Janet Reno, former United States Attorney General, challenging the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act (CDA).<ref name=Delgado>{{cite news| url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1997/10/21/NEWS16359.dtl&hw=clinton+fein&sn=081&sc=207| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525093239/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1997/10/21/NEWS16359.dtl&hw=clinton+fein&sn=081&sc=207| url-status=dead| archive-date=25 May 2011| first=Ray| last=Delgado| title=Web site owner sues to limit 'decency' law| work=San Francisco Chronicle| date=21 October 1997}}</ref>
The CDA made the communication of anything "indecent with the intent to annoy", a felony punishable by a fine and up to two-year imprisonment. President [[Bill Clinton]] signed the CDA into law in February 1996. Fein filed the lawsuit, ''Apollomedia v. Reno'',<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/013197annoy.html| first=Pamela| last=Mendels| title=Asserting a Constitutional Right to Annoy| work=The New York Times| date=31 January 1997}}</ref> the same time he launched his Annoy.com web site.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.netlitigation.com/netlitigation/cases/apollo.htm| title=Apollomedia Corp. v. Reno| publisher=Netlitigation| year=1998}}</ref> A three-judge panel in [[United States District Court for the Northern District of California]] made a divided decision on the lawsuit.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.news.com/2100-1023-215949.html| first=Courtney| last=Macavinta| title=Annoy.com free to bother Netizens| work=CNET| date=24 September 1998}}</ref> Fein filed a [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] appeal, which he won in 1999.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/supcourt/stories/court042099.htm| first=Joan| author-link=Joan Biskupic|last=Biskupic| title=Court Upholds Ban on Obscene E-Mail| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| date=20 April 1999}}</ref>
In June 1999, the U.S. government sent Fein an order to reveal a user of Annoy.com's [[e-card]] service.<ref>{{cite book| title=Law of Internet Disputes| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o1DEiNG15e4C&dq=united+states+v+apollomedia&pg=RA4-PA251| first=David W.| last=Quinto| publisher=Aspen Law & Business| date=23 July 2001| isbn=978-0735525924}}</ref> Earlier, in April 1999, the [[University of Houston]] tried unsuccessfully to obtain the website's records. The government later ordered Fein to stop discussing details of this investigation, its existence or its application. In ''[http://annoy.com/history/doc.html?DocumentID=100034 United States v. ApolloMedia]'', Fein argued that this gag order violated the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] and the statutory requirement that it have a definite duration.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://annoy.com/history/doc.html?DocumentID=100038| title=Declaration of Clinton Fein in Support of ApolloMedia's Motion To Stay Paragraph 7 of Order| publisher=Annoy.com| date=16 June 1999}}</ref>
The case moved from a Texas [[magistrate]] court to the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas]] and then to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://annoy.com/history/doc.html?DocumentID=100556| title=United States v. ApolloMedia: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinion| publisher=Annoy.com| date=15 September 2000}}</ref> The Fifth Circuit granted the appeal. The District Court then unsealed the website's records and all related proceedings and lifted the gag order.
== Art, politics and censorship ==
As an artist, Fein is represented by [http://www.toomey-tourell.com/ Toomey Tourell] in San Francisco and [http://www.axisgallery.com/ Axis Gallery] in New York, and his shows have been dogged by controversy. In 2001, Fein was scheduled to open a solo exhibition, Annoy.com, (based on his critically acclaimed<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/winners-1998.php?y=1998| publisher=The Webby Awards| title=The Best Sites of 1998| year=1998| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607061233/http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/winners-1998.php?y=1998| archivedate=7 June 2011| df=dmy-all}}</ref> web site of the same name), in San Francisco in October. After the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], [[Artforum Magazine]] pulled an advertisement for Fein's show from their October issue. The advertisement displayed an [http://www.annoy.com/features/doc.html?DocumentID=100187 image] of a purse-lipped former New York mayor, [[Rudy Giuliani]], sitting naked in a urine-filled glass, referencing the technique used by artist [[Damien Hirst]], in which animate objects are soaked in formaldehyde and encased in a glass containers. Fein's advertisement, designed to link Mayor Giuliani with mayoral candidate [[Michael Bloomberg]], incorporated imagery from the exhibition ''Sensation'' that resulted in mayor Giuliani withholding funding from the [[Brooklyn Museum]]. Clutching a crucifix with a nod to artist [[Andres Serrano]] and with another Giuliani targeted work, Chris Ofili's Virgin Mary forming the backdrop, copy on the top of the image reads: "Mike for Mayor" and at the bottom, "Start Spreading the News."
Artforum Executive Editor [[Knight Landesman]] stated that the magazine was understaffed and that the editors did not feel comfortable publishing a disparaging image of Rudy Giuliani.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://annoy.com/features/doc.html?DocumentID=100064| first=Clinton| last=Fein| title=Post Traumatic Press Syndrome: The Full Story| publisher=Annoy.com| date=12 November 2001}}</ref>
In October 2004, [[Palo Alto]]-based printing company [[Zazzle]] destroyed two of Fein's giant images.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.artthrob.co.za/04nov/news/fein.html| first=Kresta Tyler| last=Johnson| title=Artist and advocate Clinton Fein has his controversial images destroyed prior to exhibition| work=Artthrob| date=October 2004}}</ref> just before the opening of a solo exhibition at Toomey Tourell Gallery.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.arabnews.com/?article=57388| first=Molouk Y.| last=Ba-Isa| title=Corporate Policy Leads to Political Censorship| work=[[Arab News]]| date=11 January 2005}}</ref> The first of the images, reviewed at Chelsea's Axis Gallery by ''[[The New York Times]]''' Ken Johnson,<ref>{{cite news| first=Ken| last=Johnson| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/17/arts/design/17ART.html?pagewanted=4| title=Clinton Fein, "Warning" at Axis| work=The New York Times| date=17 September 2004}}</ref> was described as "an American flag with the stars and stripes made from the text of the official Abu Ghraib report ... accompanied by fifty representations of the iconic image of a hooded man teetering on a box with wires trailing from his arms comprising the stars." The other depicted President Bush on a crucifix and was entitled "Who Would Jesus Torture?" The printing company told [[San Francisco Chronicle]] art critic Kenneth Baker that it had "destroyed the images";<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/2-of-Clinton-Fein-s-political-works-run-afoul-of-2718096.php| first=Kenneth| last=Baker| title=2 of Clinton Fein's political works run afoul of his printer's policies| work=San Francisco Chronicle| date=12 October 2004}}</ref> company spokesperson Matt Wilsey claimed the image might "offend Christians," and threatened to sue Fein for defamation if Fein publicly criticized the company's actions.
"Who Would Jesus Torture?" was published in ''Art of Engagement, Visual Politics in California and Beyond,'' by Peter Selz, released in November 2005, and [http://www.american.edu/cas/katzen/museum/2006summer.cfm#4 exhibited] at the Katzen Arts Center at American University in 2006. (Peter Selz is Professor Emeritus of the History of Art at the University of California, Berkeley, the founding director of the Berkeley Art Museum, and a former curator of New York's [[Museum of Modern Art]].) In November 2006, "Who Would Jesus Torture" accompanied an article about Fein in [http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/TROAME.html?show=contents American Protest Literature] by author and Harvard University lecturer Zoe Trodd, published by [[Harvard University Press]]. It was this interview that Fein cited as a catalyst for his exhibition [http://www.clintonfein.com/torture/ Torture], which opened at Toomey Tourell gallery in San Francisco in January 2007,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.artnet.com/Galleries/Exhibitions.asp?gid=139534&cid=113044| title=Clinton Fein: Torture| publisher=ArtNet.com| date=January 2007}}</ref> featuring gigantic, high-resolution photographs<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/09/artnews.iraq| first=Peter| last=Beaumont| title=Iraq inspires surge of protest art| work=[[The Observer]]| date=9 September 2007}}</ref> that reenacted infamous scenes from [[Abu Ghraib prison]] in Iraq [http://www.clintonfein.com/torture/statement.html].
Fein's Torture series was exhibited in Beijing<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.sfchroniclemarketplace.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/22/DDINSAD3T.DTL&hw=flagging&sn=043&sc=130| first=Steven| last=Winn| title=WWII fades into distant past, and with it, our sense of patriotism| work=San Francisco Chronicle| date=22 September 2007| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120909103207/http://www.sfchroniclemarketplace.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/22/DDINSAD3T.DTL&hw=flagging&sn=043&sc=130| archivedate=9 September 2012| df=dmy-all}}</ref> in September 2007<ref>{{cite web| url=http://topic.artron.net/topic/070918/| title=Art Beijing 2007| date=September 2007}}</ref> and in London in October 2007.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theartnewspaper.com/fairs/Frieze/2007\FRIEZE07_issue3.pdf| first1=Helen| last1=Stoilas| first2=James| last2=Knox| title=Bridge| work=[[The Art Newspaper]]| date=12 October 2007| access-date=11 November 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503150850/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/fairs/Frieze/2007/FRIEZE07_issue3.pdf| archive-date=3 May 2012| url-status=dead}}</ref> A review in the December 2007 issue of [[Art in America]] magazine, summed up the impact of Fein's Torture series, stating: "Torture of detainees or their rendition to countries with even more abusive torture regimens has become semi-legal under the Bush administration. Fein reminds us, however, that these practices can never be anything less than intolerable."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.clintonfein.com/torture/art-in-america.html| first=Peter| last=Selz| title=Clinton Fein at Toomey Tourell| publisher=Art in America| date=December 2007}}</ref>
Fein is the current editor of First Amendment Project's web log and writes a blog, Pointing Fingers [http://clintonfein.typepad.com/] for the [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links==
=== Bibliography === {{wikiquote}} *[http://www.clintonfein.com/ Clinton Fein Official Web Site] *[http://www.toomey-tourell.com/?/artists/united-states/clinton-fein/ Clinton Fein at Toomey Tourell Gallery] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060205142636/http://axisgallery.com/exhibitions/warning/index.html Clinton Fein at Axis Gallery] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060513080234/http://www.toomey-tourell.com//index.asp?%2Fartists%2Funited-states%2Fclinton-fein%2F%3Fart-of-political-protest Clinton Fein and the Art of Political Protest] By Deborah Phillips *[https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/His-art-is-not-subtle-It-can-be-hard-to-take-2686073.php Clinton Fein is not afraid to make a statement] By Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle
=== Articles === *[https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/S-F-vs-N-Y-framing-a-debate-that-just-won-t-2622785.php The Horror of Torture, Reinterpreted through Art] By Kenneth Baker, The San Francisco Chronicle *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061019195939/http://entertainment.sfweekly.com/search/events.php?eventSearch=1 Precision Strike] By Michael Leaverton, The San Francisco Weekly *[https://www.sfgate.com/thingstodo/article/THE-BIGGER-PICTURE-Torture-Photographer-2624428.php The Bigger Picture 'Torture'] By Reyhan Harmanci, The San Francisco Chronicle *[http://www.clintonfein.com/media/VenturaCountyReporter.htm Everything's Fein] By Molly Freedenberg, Ventura County Reporter *[https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/As-Nov-2-nears-artists-get-in-their-last-licks-2641998.php As Nov. 2 nears, artists get in their last licks, sending up Bush and company on center stage] By Steve Winn, The San Francisco Chronicle *[http://www.clintonfein.com/surface-mag.html The Clinton Cabinet] Surface Magazine *[http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sfmetro/01.98/annoying-98-1.html The Importance of Being Annoying] By Michelle Goldberg, Metropolitan Magazine *[https://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,1755,00.html Designed to Annoy, Web Site Flouts CDA] By Steve Silverman, Wired *[https://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/013197annoy.html Asserting a Constitutional Right to Annoy] By Pamela Mendels, The New York Times *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070702123534/http://interactive.wsj.com/public/current/articles/SB881175421590561000.htm Does Anything Go? Limiting Free Speech on the Net:Five Players Debate the Issue] The Wall Street Journal *[http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9809/29/annoyspeech.idg/ U.S. court protects 'annoying' online speech] By Elinor Mills, CNN *[https://web.archive.org/web/19990828170616/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ramhurl.cgi?file=1999/04/19-netdecency_kronv.rm A very confusing decision] KRON TV *[http://www.clintonfein.com/articles/index.html Additional articles]
=== News === *[http://www.arabnews.com/?page=11§ion=0&article=57388&d=11&m=1&y=2005 Corporate Policy Leads to Political Censorship] By Molouk Y. Ba-Isa, Arab News *[https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/2-of-Clinton-Fein-s-political-works-run-afoul-of-2718096.php 2 of Clinton Fein's political works run afoul of his printer's policies] By Kenneth Baker, The San Francisco Chronicle *[http://news.cnet.com/Annoy.com+Webmaster+says+war+art+censored/2100-1028_3-5399766.html Annoy.com Webmaster says war art censored] By Paul Festa, C|NET *[http://www.artthrob.co.za/04nov/news/fein.html Artist and advocate Clinton Fein has his controversial images destroyed prior to exhibition] By Kresta Tyler Johnson, Artthrob Magazine
=== Publications === *[https://www.amazon.com/dp/0674023528/ American Protest Literature] by Zoe Trodd, from Harvard University Press, 2006. *[https://www.amazon.com/dp/0520240529 Art of Engagement: Visual Politics in California and Beyond] by Peter Selz, from University of California Press, 2006.
=== Art, editorials and writing === *[http://www.annoy.com Annoy.com] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080312020630/http://www.redroom.com/author/clinton-fein Clinton Fein at Redroom.com] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061130064429/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/contribute/sn/persona?plckPersonaPage=PersonaBlog&User=clinton_fein Pointing Fingers on SFGate] *[http://www.thefirstamendment.org The First: First Amendment Project Blog]
{{Webby Awards|cat=Politics+Law|year=1998|type=Nominee}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fein, Clinton}} [[Category:1964 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Johannesburg]]