Some late night writings before I head over to Stockholm…
- A funny sarcastic little post at Techdirt on the never-ending topic of intellectual property rights. This is one is about “why anyone would like to create anything without the possibility to earn money through the protection of intellectual property rights ( since it can shared without cost). This is based on the simple logic that when it is out there in a digital form it is impossible to protect and possible to share freely. Arguably and according to many IPR owners, the challenge is of course to continue making a profit and staying in business. Below is a little post from tech dirt answering the claim that “if no IPR existed, creative works would disappear”.
It’s always fun to hear people say that without intellectual property rules creative works would disappear. This is wrong on any number of levels, as we’ve discussed in great detail. However, Justin Levine points us to an an amusing analysis of George Lucas’ plans to let fans post their own video mashups on the Star Wars website. Lucasfilm and a company named Eyespot will run ads alongside these mashups, keeping all the money for themselves. They also won’t let the people who create the mashups profit from them directly. If ever there were a case of digital exploitation, this should be it, right? Or, as the tongue-in-cheek analysis from Randy Barnett notes: “But the laugh is really going to be on Lucasfilm because, as we all know, people won’t invest scarce time producing creative works that others want to watch without the financial incentives provided by intellectual “property” rights granted for “limited times” (i.e. in perpetuity). So it is safe to predict that no one will contribute any mashups to the new Starwars.com website. Boy, will that be embarrassing for them!” Indeed. Yet, somehow, people are still going to tell us that without intellectual property there would be no incentives to create content? URL: People Will Create Stuff For Free? Impossible! By Mike Masnick Via Techdirt.com
Worth mentioning as a similar example is also the “Super-Short” contest we (FILMERE) are hosting. Here filmmakers are competing to create the best 60 second movie with no monetary award and instant sharing at Nlive. Even though the best contributions are rewarded with screenings at national cinemas and in taxi’s, I would still argue that the most important motivating factor for participation is the mere joy of producing film and the desire to gain appreciation for ones effort!
However, the motivation for creating original “artwork” is obviously a tiny part of the story, and it is always easy to argue against the present without presenting a solution for the future. I believe the Electronic Frontiers Foundation´s suggestion for a business model for the music industry “Voluntary Collective Licensing” resembles a meager start towards a solution. However new forms for commercialization for audiovisual production is needed, and those ready to adapt and exploit new technologies and business formats will probably be the winners. Even more disruptive technologies than file sharing will surface for sure!
Other interesting perspectives on the whole “piracy” debate may be found here (PDF in Norwegian by Espen Andersen) and the less documented contrary may perhaps be illustrated here.
Will clean up this post later and do something more comprehensible I think…but enough for tonight. (Illustration: byte.org)
Edited: Some inappropriate description about the Techdirt post.
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