Joost Smiers and Marieke van Schijndel: IMAGINING A WORLD WITHOUT COPYRIGHT. Food for thought!

I met Joost at MIDEM 05, in Cannes, and he's amazing. This essay is a serious manifesto that will get you thinking --- check it out.

"The market and temporary protection a better alternative for artists and the public domain
An essay Marieke van Schijndel & Joost Smiers
Hard to imagine
Some serious cracks are surfacing in the system of copyright, as we have known it in the Western world for a couple of centuries. The system is substantially more beneficial for cultural conglomerates than for the average artist; a situation that cannot last. Furthermore, it seems inescapable that digitisation is undermining the foundations of the copyright system. It must be acknowledged that several authors have recently presented analyses of the untenability of the contemporary system of copyright. Yet, most of their observations only allude to – but do not address – what we deem the most fundamental question of all: if copyright is inherently unjust, what could come in their place to guarantee artists – creative and performing – a fair compensation for their labours, and how can we prevent knowledge and creativity from being privatised (Bettig 1996; Bollier 2003: 119-134; Boyle 1996; Coombe 1998; Drahos 2002, 2002a; Frith 2004; Lessig 2002, 2004; Litman 2001; Perelman 2002; Vaidhyanathan 2003). It is time to move beyond merely criticizing copyright. The pressing question is: which alternative can we offer artists and other cultural entrepreneurs in rich as well as poor countries that benefits them, and that brings the increasing privatisation of creativity and expertise to a halt? Our goal in this essay is to develop such an alternative, and to move beyond any notion centred on private intellectual property rights....."

Contact: 

Prof. dr. Joost Smiers

HKU/Utrecht School of the Arts

P.O.Box 1520

3500 BM Utrecht

the Netherlands

e-mail: joost.smiers@central.hku.nl

The Download joost_smiers_imagine_a_world_without_copyright_feb_2005.pdf

Comments

[Steve Cisler]

I don't understand what would compel copyright holders, large and small, to make the change to this alternative system, nor do I understand what sort of entity would replace WIPO. They are a very conservative lot and care little for even traditional "fair use" policies and practices.

I disagree that the 'handful of cultural enterprises' equals less diversity. According to Fiamentta Rocco, literary editor at the Economist

"More than 100,000 books are published in Britain each year, virtually the same number as in America, which has five times the population. Of those, 10,000 will be novels, the vast majority of which will remain unread and unknown, many never even making it into the major bookshops."

So I see a major problem as distribution and marketing, i.e. getting your attention to read a book, go to a gallery, listen to music, attend a play, watch a movie. The new service ourmedia.org may make the digital versions of some works more available, and I support that, but those works will not bring income to the creators, except indirectly as the essay explains.

I'll highlight the essay on my web log which deals with knowledge sharing for development: http://place.typepad.com/digitalcommons

[Bob Torton]

Great essay!

-Bob Torton
http://www.psonizo.com/affiliates/cd/