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Cultural Production In
The Digital Age:
Barriers and Incentives
To Sharing
COM302/CHID370
12 November 2008
Kathy E. Gill
Framing
Web 2.0 Technologies
• These technologies change how we
interact with cultural objects.
• Fundamental Premise:
We are no longer
merely a consumer;
we can also be a producer.
This is a major shift
from the late 20th
century model:
In Today’s Digital World, It
Is Easier to Borrow, Copy,
Manipulate
This means it is
technically easier to
express ourselves in
new, creative ways.
Traditional Model
• Mediated Communication
was a one-way Mass
Communication Model
New Model
• Mediated communication is
transitioning to a circular
(Osgood & Schramm)
interpersonal model
What are the cultural
industries?
• News media
• Advertising industry
• Television & movies
• Music
• Fashion
• What else?
Quotable
• “[N]on-commercial cultural
production and unconstrained
expression within the Internet
undermines capitalism’s
production of meaning.” p135
- from Michael Strangelove, The Empire of Mind
(University of Toronto Press, 2005)
The Clash
Culture as a freely
flowing current of ideas
and practices runs head
first into culture as
intellectual property
Ask permission
each time
Ask permission
each use
The Barrier
• Copyright originated in a time when the
view of authors was romantic: "originality
was elevated to being located in and
belonging to the self of the author" ...
words created by these authors were
considered "original" and thus
distinguishable from mass-produced
commodities.
(Lessig, presentation, Copyright, Cultural Production and Open Content
Licensing)
The Enforcer
• Digital Rights Management Act
• tend to think of this with movies and
songs, but also can be pay-to-view
sections of any website like the WSJ
• RIAA “cease and desist” letters
• Losing on two levels
Why P2P Got A Bad Name
Hint: It wasn’t because of “production”
What Is P2P?
• The sharing of computer resources and
services by direct exchange between two
systems
• Examples: SEIT @ Home, Skype, ICQ,
and, of course, Napster
• A “peer” gives some resources and also
receives some
Watch EFF Slide Show
Law Suits Backfiring
• [With Capitol v Thomas] looking to head to
a mistrial, making the $222,000 judgment
null and void, the two largest decisions in
the RIAA’s ‘war on downloading’ have
been against them. In both cases the RIAA
admitted it was wrong and [was] ordered
to pay the fees.
• Source
Controversy
• Copyright purpose is to “promote
the progress of science and the
useful arts” … and the duration for
exclusivity is to be “limited” …
- US Constitution
Infringement
• "Copyright infringement" means exercising
one of the copyright holder's exclusive
rights without permission.
• Should a copyright holder sue on grounds
of infringement, the defendent may argue
that the use was "fair use"
• The fair use doctrine allows copyrighted
works to be used in some
circumstances, such as commentary,
criticism, news reporting or educational
use.
Is This Infringement?
What About The Content
YOU Produce?
Digital technologies enable
a "Tinkering culture" -- a
"read write rip burn culture"
Sources
•
Copyright, Fair Use & The Evolution of Creative Commons:
http://www.slideshare.net/cliotech/copyright-the-evolution-of-creativecommonshttp:/www.slideshare.net/cliotech/copyright-the-evolution-of-creative-commons
•
Copyright and Options for Creative Practitioners:
http://www.slideshare.net/creativecommonsaustralia/creative-copyright-copyright-and-optionsfor-creative-practitioners
•
Image: Consume. Be silent. Die. (unknown)
•
Web 2.0 Image (1): http://joevans.pbwiki.com/Web+2+Point+O+Tools
•
Web 2.0 Image (2):
http://www.robmillard.com/archives/tools-for-strategists-web-20-confusion-hinderingfirms.html
•
Fine Print : http://www.slideshare.net/pauljacobson/legal-aspects-of-new-media-quirk-2008/
Kathy E. Gill
• http://wiredpen.com
• http://faculty.washington.edu
• http://twitter.com/kegill
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