Whose Copyright Economy

Whose Immaterial Economy? Jyrki J.J. Kasvi

Information society civilization Information processing Pre-language Speech Writing Printing press ICT technology Available information ~ 10 7 bits ~ 10 9 bits ~ 10 11 bits ~ 10 17 bits ~ 10 25 bits
Printing press gave birth to copyright as we know it:
To protect content providers against distributors
ICT tehcnology is going to need a corresponding system :
But to protect whom against whom?
Civilization level Pack Tribes/villages Towns/cities Industrial Networking

Anne’s act 1709
In 1709 the first actual copyright law was enacted in United Kingdom
Defined the three interest groups whose relationships copyright laws still governs: content provider, publisher and consumer
Publishers had no right to limit the way consumers use the content they purchase, DRM would have been illegal in 1709.
It took 300 years from Gutenberg’s invention to get a law
The principles of Anne’s act worked for almost 300 years!
Requires small copying costs and centralised control
In digital world the copying costs are zero and each and every computer is a potential printing press
Now the change happens much faster than 300-400 years ago.

Challenge and opportunity
Printing press created the basis for copyright system
Making of new copies of content is cheap
It is possible to centrally supervise and control copying
Newspapers and popular culture were born as a result
But the profession of scribes was wiped out
Digital technology requires new rules
It costs nothing to copy, edit and distribute content
It is impossible to centrally supervise or control copying
What new cultural phenomena digital technology makes possible?
Social media, crowdsourcing, …
Rip-n-mix & mash-up
???

Goals for a new copyright system
Of these we probably have a wide consensus
To maximise production and use of content – the expansion of culture
E.g. the original goal of the patent system was to maximise the distribution and use of new innovations – expansion of economy
To secure livelihood of content makers
What about benefits of media industry shareholders?
Production and marketing services used by content makers are also under threat
To facilitate new forms of content, expression and culture
Crowdsourcing, mash-ups etc. vs. copyright
Of means to achieve these goals we still need to discuss

Problematic details
Copyrights of public information
Have been used to limit publication and usage of public information
How to use content created by public cultural institutions and broadcasting companies?
Copyrights in developing countries
Research and education institutions of developing countries cannot afford the prices of scientific and educational materials
Disabled people’s equal access to information
Content should be transferable to formats accessible to disabled people
DRM should allow blind people’s screen readers to work
Copyrights of software have been forgotten
Economically the most important sector of copyright economy in Finland
The intimate relationship of media industry and law makers
The secrecy of ACTA negotiations have not stopped media industry lobbyists from being informed (better than politicians or NGO’s)
Consumer and civil rights have been secondary to economic interests

Supervision and control
The only way to enforce traditional copyrights in digital age is to supervise continuously everybody’s digital communications
Privacy?
Who is responsible for supervision and judgement?
Cutting internet connections is the only working punishment
Freedom of expression?
Who is responsible for enforcing punishments?
Chinese proposal
Install supervision compulsory software on each and every computer
Who would be watching the watchmen?

Cloud computing politics
Applications, content and computing are becoming cloud computing services
Content providers must become service providers
Kindle etc. Is doing the same to books and newspapers as Spotify did to music
TV channels may die but IP television services grow
The tension between the rights of content providers, publishers and customers stays
Amazon removed 1984 from their clients’ Kindles
What is going to happen to public libraries?
Publishers would be more than happy to see libraries dwindle

Difficult near future
Media industry is going through a painful structural change
CD and DVD, even mp3 and mpeg are going to follow LP and C to oblivion
Content becomes service
Amateur media challenges industrial media
Distributed and shared content production
Commercial news media are facing a challenge to survive
The role of public broadcasting and media increases

Sukupuolten välinen digikuilu? Discussion U.S. Army Photo

Whose Copyright Economy

by Jyrki J.J. Kasvi on Dec 11, 2009

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Whose Copyright Economy — Presentation Transcript