Copyright. Technology. Society.

The role of Internet

Through educational campaigns, lawsuits, technical protection measures and more, creators and the creative content industries have sought to curb this loss of control over copyrighted works. They have, however, encountered strong opposition from Internet users.

Furthermore, Internet intermediaries have been reluctant to become overly involved in the creative content industries' fight again piracy. The creative content industries are deemed to be seeking to protect outdated analogue business models based on control, rather than adapting to the new digital environment and embracing the opportunities of digital technology and the Internet.

A heated debate about who and what needs to change, creators or users, is thus raging in Europe. The recent opposition to the "graduated response" policy initiatives in France and the United Kingdom, that focus on deterring copyright infringement through warning and sanctioning Internet users for infringing copyright, is illustrative. ACTA, a current multilateral trade negotiation on anti-counterfeiting has also been strongly criticized.

Is it all about the money?

At a basic level, the copyright debate (as with many disagreements) is about money, whether to pay or to pirate. It is about the creative content industries finding business models that are acceptable to Internet users and work in the digital environment. But there is more going on.

Piracy is not widely scorned by society. Not only the business models supported by copyright, but copyright itself, are being reassessed. Important questions have been raised as to whether copyright is still fostering creativity and whether copyright is being properly balanced with other rights, such as privacy and freedom of expression. At the core, it is about the value of copyright.

Finally, at a meta level, the debate relates to the type of technology we wish to develop and the type of society we wish to live in. Closed or open, conservative or progressive, free market or social equity. Thus, it is about power, control and strife, but also openness, knowledge and public interest.

These problems, questions and more are studied in Trisha Meyer's PhD, a result of SMIT's collaboration in the Video-Q-Sac project. Trisha will devote the next three years to analyzing and theorizing about the current developments in copyright policies of EU member states, focusing especially on the complex relation between values of copyright, technology and society. Feel free to post or email (trisha.meyer@vub.ac.be) any questions, comments or suggestions!

More information about IBBT's view on copyright can be found in our starters' toolbox.