"To Eric Eldred—whose work first drew me to this cause, and for whom it continues still."
Introduction
Free Culture is about the troubles the Internet causes even after the modem is turned off. It is an argument about how the battles that now rage regarding life on-line have fundamentally affected “people who aren’t online.”
We come from a tradition of “free culture”—not “free” as in “free beer” (to borrow a phrase from the founder of the freesoftware movement), but “free” as in “free speech,” “free markets,” “free trade,” “free enterprise,” “free will,” and “free elections.”
The opposite of a free culture is a permission culture "...creators get to create only with the permission of the powerful, or of creators from the past"
"Does that sound unconservative? Not to me. The concentration of power—political, corporate, media, cultural—should be anathema to conservatives. The diffusion of power through local control, thereby encouraging individual participation, is the essence of federalism and the greatest expression of democracy."
"Does that sound unconservative? Not to me. The concentration of power—political, corporate, media, cultural—should be anathema to conservatives. The diffusion of power through local control, thereby encouraging individual participation, is the essence of federalism and the greatest expression of democracy."
"technological meme pool"
"Corporations threatened by the potential of the Internet to change the way both commercial and noncommercial culture are made and shared have united to induce lawmakers to use the law to protect them... They are succeeding in their plan to remake the Internet before the Internet remakes them (9)."
It seems there is a new "war" now between "piracy" and "property," (10) provoked by the Internet (17).
"There has never been a time in our history when more of our “culture” was as “owned” as it is now. And yet there has never been a time when the concentration of power to control the uses of culture has been as unquestioningly accepted as it is now... Or is the radical shift away from our tradition of free culture yet another example of a political system captured by a few powerful special interests?" (12)... "...we are allowing those most threatened by the changes to use their power to change the law—and more importantly, to use their power to change something fundamental about who we have always been" (13).
It seems there is a new "war" now between "piracy" and "property," (10) provoked by the Internet (17).
"There has never been a time in our history when more of our “culture” was as “owned” as it is now. And yet there has never been a time when the concentration of power to control the uses of culture has been as unquestioningly accepted as it is now... Or is the radical shift away from our tradition of free culture yet another example of a political system captured by a few powerful special interests?" (12)... "...we are allowing those most threatened by the changes to use their power to change the law—and more importantly, to use their power to change something fundamental about who we have always been" (13).
Part 1: “PIRACY”
Person-to-person sharing (p2p) has an efficiency which does not respect the traditional lines of copyright laws. "A generation of Americans, the warriors warn, is being raised to believe that “property” should be “free.” Forget tattoos, never mind body piercing—our kids are becoming thieves!" (18).
Person-to-person sharing (p2p) has an efficiency which does not respect the traditional lines of copyright laws. "A generation of Americans, the warriors warn, is being raised to believe that “property” should be “free.” Forget tattoos, never mind body piercing—our kids are becoming thieves!" (18).
WRONG: "Creative work has value; whenever I use, or take, or build upon the creative work of others, I am taking from them something of value. Whenever I take something of value from someone else, I should have their permission. The taking of something of value from someone else without permission is wrong. It is a form of piracy" (18)
"Instead, in our tradition, intellectual property is an instrument. It sets the groundwork for a richly creative society but remains subservient to the value of creativity. The current debate has this turned around. We have become so concerned with protecting the instrument that we are losing sight of the value.
The source of this confusion is a distinction that the law no longer takes care to draw—the distinction between republishing someone’s work on the one hand and building upon or transforming that work on the other. Copyright law at its birth had only publishing as its concern; copyright law today regulates both" (19).
"Rise of the Creative Class" Richard Florida
CH 1: Creators
Disney
"Instead, in our tradition, intellectual property is an instrument. It sets the groundwork for a richly creative society but remains subservient to the value of creativity. The current debate has this turned around. We have become so concerned with protecting the instrument that we are losing sight of the value.
The source of this confusion is a distinction that the law no longer takes care to draw—the distinction between republishing someone’s work on the one hand and building upon or transforming that work on the other. Copyright law at its birth had only publishing as its concern; copyright law today regulates both" (19).
"Rise of the Creative Class" Richard Florida
CH 1: Creators
Disney
Japanese publishing of manga, or graphic novels..."Doujinshi are also comics, but they are a kind of copycat comic. A rich ethic governs the creation of doujinshi. It is not doujinshi if it is just a copy; the artist must make a contribution to the art he copies, by transforming it either subtly or significantly" (25-26). "This market exists in parallel to the mainstream commercial manga market. In some ways, it obviously competes with that market, but there is no sustained effort by those who control the commercial manga market to shut the doujinshi market down. It flourishes, despite the competition and despite the law" (26).
Even though Japanese copyright law technically bans these copycat comics, one Japanese man admitted that there simply aren't enough lawyers to defend these cases (27). "Would Japan be better off with more lawyers? Would mangabe richer if doujinshi artists were regularly prosecuted? Would the
Japanese gain something important if they could end this practice of uncompensated sharing? Does piracy here hurt the victims of the piracy, or does it help them? Would lawyers fighting this piracy help
their clients or hurt them?" (27-28).
Japanese gain something important if they could end this practice of uncompensated sharing? Does piracy here hurt the victims of the piracy, or does it help them? Would lawyers fighting this piracy help
their clients or hurt them?" (27-28).
"Scientists build upon the work of other scientists without asking or paying for the privilege. (“Excuse me, Professor Einstein, but may I have permission to use your theory of relativity to show that you were wrong about quantum physics?”)" (29).
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