The document discusses the shortcomings of current copyright law, emphasizing that its original purpose—to stimulate culture, creativity, and innovation—is often undermined by commercial practices. It argues for a new model that differentiates between media as a commodity and as a form of expression, promoting free access and non-exclusive content distribution. Additionally, it proposes the establishment of an independent public registry for content to address the needs of creators and consumers while facilitating a more equitable and competitive environment.

1. Background This is very preliminary. Listing all the problems with current copyright law, its implication and history is the subject of entire books. However, one can remind oneself what the purpose of copyright is. The purpose of Copyright is not to ensure that artist and writers are paid, it is not to make sure noone builds upon existing content without the copyright owners permission, it is not to ensure the survival of Hollywood The government shall stimulate the growth of our culture, our creativity and innovation. That is the core. One such means of realising this is by making sure content creators are rewarded. The patent law is for some reason more attuned to this goal than copyright law. As a culture changes, so must the law. What was true 200 years ago is not true today, and we must revisit the deal in its entirety. One must look at the law, considering the impact of the global village, free distribution, miniturization and other new technologies

2. RIAA gets paid when non-members music is played http://gundampilotspaz.com/2007/04/29/riaa-to-collect-money-for-independant-non-riaa-artists/ RIAA sued 11 year old for piracy http://tinymixtapes.com/RIAA-Faces-Major-Setbacks-Because

3. What is media? What differentiates a painting from a pair of jeans? One can think of movies, music, comics, radio, books in two main categories: - A Commodity - A form of expression These two categories bring with them entirely different aspects and should be interpreted differently.

4. The big picture The main objective of a society in a cultural context is … while maintaining Free speech … while maintaining Privacy … while maintaining Free communication Society should also enable access to history Those that dont learn from history… Culture is also the bond that forms communities To stimulate culture, creativity and innovation

5. Assumption The prevalent assumption the last 200 years has been that culture is best stimulated by offering a temporary protection to the creator, so he can control the use and distribution of content This has never been proved, but is rarely questioned There is considerable evidence that Commercial Copyright on many instances causes more harm than benefit One must ask: Does the current copyright legislation and practice fulfill its purpose, of stimulating culture creativity and innovation to the greatest extent?

6. Cases where law contradicts purpose Aids vaccine not being available in Africa, causing deaths of millions Patenting biological DNA – even human! Exxon buying battery patents to prevent electric cars from being developed Criminalising everyone between the age of 5 and 50 Granting police powers to the RIAA to sue individuals Massive surveilance of private communication Preventing reuse of culture the way its been done for milennia

7. Media as a commodity The vendor Highest number of units Highest possible price Lowest cost Control the market From other players From disruptive technologies and business models Control the content Get access to content from others Deny access to content to others Associated revenue Merchandising, Product placement, Cross subsidies (McD campaigns) The customer Highest content quality Highest content selection Highest distribution quality Highest distribution selection Lowest price Maintained consumer rights

8. Media as art Artist Distribution From only family to the whole world Recognition From anonymous to pseudonym to attention hogger Content control From copyright to copyleft Feedback From concerts to fanclubs Artistic freedom Free speech Monetary compensation From none to lots Participant Embodiment From whatever to roadie Patronage From none to everything Influence Incluence creators, reward, feedback etc Share with peers Part of identity Use and reuse content Create and modify, sample

9. “ ..I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.”

12. Other sources of damage

13. Conventional distribution model Content owner User Distributor Content owner Content owner User User

14. Example: Apple Content owner User Content owner Content owner User User iPod iTunes iPhone Apple TV

15. Example: Nokia Content owner User Content owner Content owner User User N96 OVI N95 N…

16. Some problems with current distribution model Exclusive rights Combines copyright owners and distributors The distributor has monopoly on distribution of content Reduces competition both in distribution and in content Copyright owner has monopoly on derivative works Severe impediment to free speech "Eternal" copyright contributes little to public domain Public domain content cannot compete with copyrighted content The law criminalizes the majority The law protects the content owners on the expense of the people. Bans people from internet, restricting internet speeds, suing technology vendors (vcr, mp3) and regular people Is the problem with the people, or with the law?

17. How to effect change The idea of the model is to disrupt existing distribution models, The idea is to make free culture more competitive than permission culture (ref. Lawrence Lessig, ”Free Culture”) and thus marginalize permission culture Introduce competition in all links of the value chain Create a solid, fundamentally correct and future-proof system that adresses the requirements and needs of all relevant parties

18. Steam as an example Focus on the user experience Gives the user high degree of functionality and rights Appealing to 3rd party vendors Stimulates development on their products

22. Roles separated to get non-exclusivity Content owner User Content owner Content owner User User Aggregator Distributør Distributør Aggregator

23. Needs an independent registry Content owner User Content owner Content owner User User Aggregator Distributor Distributor Aggregator Registry

24. Example roles Writer User Public Library Registry Musician Painter User User Internet Archive FreeArt.com MSN music store Registration Co.

25. Eksempel of use John Walsh Peter: Reads the book for free on his PC Public Library Registry Walter: Buys the paperback FreeBooks.com HardPop Writers Guild $ 5 $ 20 free John’s chosen licence sais digital copies are free, if you publish a paper book give me 5 bucks

26. Content owner Owner of the content. Can be an individual or company Content registrar Facilitates access to Content registry User registry Public registry of which users owns which content Application User Consumes the content Application Distributor Distributes content Content registry Public registry of Content

27. Process flows

28. The public registry approves registrars and distributors Can be any company, but must abide by the rules regarding copyright, payment etc Registrar and Distributor signing Content owner User registry Application User Distributor Content registrar Application Content registry

29. Content is produced Music, movies, TV-series, photos, books, plays etc Initially intended for media content, but works equally well for games, applications and other intellectual property Licence decicions Content producer can make any kind of 3rd party agreement, including sale or revenue-sharing of licenses Content production and licencing Content owner Content registrar User registry Application User Application Distributor Content registry

30. Content owner registers with the public registry Done through approved registrars, much like domain names Content owner provides a copy to the Content registrar of the highest quality available Content registration Content owner Content registrar User registry Application User Application Distributor Content registry

31. Distributor accesses registry Finds new content in the content registry the distributor wishes to publish Retrieves a master copy can then create any new suitable version - from FLAC to MP3, from Blue-ray to DVD, DivX, mobile etc Registrar to distributor publication Content owner User registry Application User Distributor Content registrar Application Content registry

32. The user purchases content Can be a CD store, iTunes etc The user can decide either to purchase anonymously, or to register that he now owns the rights to that content Registration can be facilitated in a number of ways, eg. By registering a credit card with the distributor Content purchase Content owner Content registrar User registry Application User Application Distributor Content registry

33. The distributor pays for the licence The distributor checks content registry for price, and pays the content owner according to the licence. Can be any kind of payment plan determined by the chosen licence, from fixed price per unit to bulk discounts. Note that this is a fixed part of the licence agreements and is available to all distributors alike. Content owner payment User registry Application User Application Distributor Content owner Content registrar Content registry

34. Content is distributed The distributor checks the user registry to see what content that user has purchased Content can be distributed in a myriad of payment plans and distribution methods… Physical media, streaming, Pay-on demand, torrents, fixed price, bundles etc Content distribution Content owner Content registrar User registry Application User Application Distributor Content registry

35. Categories of licences Public Domain Content without any kind of restrictions Creative Commons licence group Content that is free for non-commercial use Includes licences such as Creative Commons and Creative Archive Commercial Commons licence group A group of licences where distribution requires payment Licences can be as detailed as one please Example: Books – a licence that a digital copy of the book has one cost (eg. Free), a physical print has another (eg. $5 per sold copy)

36. And now? Lets do this!