Trends, opportunities and threats in the digital
copyright and online collaboration realm
Version 2.0, May 2009 by Heather Ford

OR How copyright is colliding with the Internet

(1) Copyright: then and now

1710, England ‘The Statute of Anne: An Act for the
Encouragement of Learning’

public domain
scope
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duration

public domain
scope
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duration

(2) Along came the internet

1983
Matt Britt CC BY http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_map_1024.jpg

‘dumb networks smart devices’

the ‘World Wide Web’
Tim Berners Lee
1989

A Revolution.

Set a collision course and a challenge that four
influential people would take up to attempt to
redefine how information and knowledge should be
owned and controlled on the new platform.

(3) Enter the revolutionaries

1. The Dreamer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Richard_Matthew_Stallman.jpeg GFDL
‘The GNU Manifesto’
Richard Stallman
1985

Rights to collaborate and improve knowledge are
valid when it comes to digital networks.

2. The philosopher
‘A Declaration of the
Independence of
Cyberspace’
John Perry Barlow
1996
Pic by Joi Ito CC BY www.flickr.com/photos/joi/836262884/

Copyright is a blunt tool to regulate information
being shared across networks.

3. The activist
Lawrence Lessig
Creative Commons
2003
Pic by ‘Notwist’ CC BY http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lessig_portrait.jpg

New copyright rules need to accommodate the art
of remix rather than stifling creativity.

4. The pragmatist
Tim O’Reilly
‘Web 2.0’
2001
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tim_O%27Reilly2.jpg CC BY

‘Intellectual property protection limits re-use and
prevents experimentation. Therefore: when
benefits come from collective adoption, not
private restriction, make sure that barriers to
adoption are low.’

(4) And in the opposite corner

5. The lobbyist
Jack Valenti
Digital Millennium
Copyright Act
1998
Roland Godefroy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JackValenti19.JPG

against for

Pirate Bay
against for

Pirate Bay
Free software
against for

Pirate Bay
Free software C r e a t i v e C o m m o n s
against for

Pirate Bay A2K and A2Medicines
Free software C r e a t i v e C o m m o n s
against for

Pirate Bay A2K and A2Medicines
Free software C r e a t i v e C o m m o n s
Indigenous Knowledge
against for

Pirate Bay A2K and A2Medicines
Free software C r e a t i v e C o m m o n s RIAA
Indigenous Knowledge
against for

Pirate Bay A2K and A2Medicines Drug companies
Free software C r e a t i v e C o m m o n s RIAA
Indigenous Knowledge
against for

Pirate Bay A2K and A2Medicines Drug companies
Free software C r e a t i v e C o m m o n s RIAA
Indigenous Knowledge Licensing agencies
against for

Pirate Bay A2K and A2Medicines Drug companies
Free software C r e a t i v e C o m m o n s RIAA
Indigenous Knowledge Licensing agencies
against for
[depending on whether
you’re acting as a
consumer or producer
of intellectual property]

(5) Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Smashing myths
1. The only incentive for innovation is financial
2. In the software and publishing fields, you make
money by selling copies
3. Public services are most efficiently produced by
the private/for-profit sector
REF: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-wisdom-of-community/

(6) And now?

Talk back
The wisdom of community
1. Simplicity
2. Interface
3. Aggregation
4. Participation
5. Motivation
6. Scores
REF: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-wisdom-of-community/

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