Rights Remixed

Posted by Mike Walsh

6/30/05 12:27 AM

As they say – no new tunes in the key of C. But in an age of Tarantino,hip hop sampling and Google API mashups – the remix is generally better than the real thing. What should be a headache for intellectual property lawyers, is becoming fertile ground for legal innovation with
the rise of the creative commons licensing regime. But does copyright altruism really add up to new economy affluence?

Open source aficionados are well versed in the virtues of sharing. Software released under an open source license, allows anybody to access the underlying source doe to build a package of software and sell it. The model was popularised by Eric Raymond’s classic 1997 essay, “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” where he contrasted the centrally managed effort of a small group of individuals building a cathedral compared to the chaotic freedom of a great bazaar of differing agendas and approaches.

But its not just hackers and hippies that have jumped on the open source platform. The growth of Linux in the enterprise is evidence of just how useful it is both share your own work and build on the ideas of others. The open licensing model literally allows millions of people to pool their efforts to develop creative solutions to problems.

Software is one thing, but what about other types of content? Traditionally the legal system has recognised two extremes – full copyright and the public domain. The former automatically protects you from infringing uses, while the latter means that anyone is free to use your work without permission or restriction.

As bloggers, podcasters and Flickr photo addicts know all too well – there is enormous value in finding a halfway house that maximises the distribution of your work to a global audience, while allowing you to reserve some rights. For instance you might be happy for someone to reproduce your photo on their website, but you would like to ensure that you are properly acknowledged and that it is not going to be used commercially without your consent.

From this perspective, copyright is best thought of as a spectrum rather than a binary distinction. Harvard law academic Lawrence Lessig and his team at the Creative Commons have not only developed a useful series of licenses for new media content, they have built a database to allow content creators to reference these copyrights by URL. Already advanced search engines are using Creative Commons metadata to allow users to determine the copyright status of a digital media asset.

Traditional media companies are generally more focused on piracy than encouraging creativity. The BBC, with a billion dollar funding remit from the British Government, is perhaps the world's biggest exception. They have recently taken the unusual step of opening up a portion of their digital archives for public use. The creative archive will debut with thousands of natural-history programming clips and allow noncommercial viewing, sharing and editing.

Of course, no Hollywood Studio after spending millions on producing a blockbuster feature film is going to willingly lift its kimono to would be digital thieves. That is not to say, however, that taking an expansive view on the use of trademarks and selected media assets by your fanbase is not good business. While Disney lawyers have been known for slapping writs on teen fansites, George Lucas has been broadly supportive of the extraordinary of geeky fans happy to make their own short films and stories referencing his universe.

And for good reason. The new remix culture is not just about clever marketing, it is about giving consumers the tools to participate in the media experience.

Topics: Media, Culture

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