I think the main issue is an artist want to be credited for their work, and allthough sight like youtube and google video try to follow copyright rules, with so many videos being uploaded they can’t possibly do it well. I’ve seen far too many ‘filmed in a gallery’ videos without any credit to the artist for my liking, it’s a matter of respect. And as you say, yes it is good publicity to have your work shown all over, an in fact it’s a major point of a lot of video artists work to be as accessible as possible but if the name isnt with the work then where is the gain for the artist? I think artists will (rightly) wait until there can be some real copyright enforcement policies until they start to take advantage of the internet as a medium and until then we’ll all just have to get out from behind the computer screen and go to the damn gallery won’t we.

Are some artists a little fearful or control freaky about their work? Absolutely, but maybe that’s part of their makeup, their practice, or their conceptual framework. So be it, frankly. A selfless, generous soul would NOT have gotten The Cremaster Cycle made in the first place.

Museums are conservative by definition/mission, and beholden to artists’ instructions for their works. For an artist who’s seeking to sample, reference, or rework video art, all this means is it takes a bit of effort to secure bootleg copies of whatever you want.