FREE/ OPEN CONTENT

LAWRENCE LIANG

ALTERNATIVE LAW FORUM

INTRODUCTION

the Free software philosophy of freedom

Emergence of Free/ Open Content as a viable alternative to copyright

But what is wrong with copyright anyway?

Copyright and the insanity plea

A few Symptoms of insanity

Misguided belief in one’s own supremacy and immortality

Frequent Bouts of Delusion

Inability to empathize with fellow human beings

Propensity for Arbitrary Violent Behaviour

Misguided belief in its own supremacy and immortality

Based on the Assumption that without copyright there will be no creativity;

This is inaccurate, both historically and in the contemporary

From the OED to the Wikipedia

The Term or length of Copyright

“Copyright should exist for eternity minus one day”

- Jack Valenti

Frequent Bouts of Delusion

The assumption that Copyright is intended to protect authors and creators

Cost of Learning Materials is an Injustice

The cost of Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom

In the USA:	ZAR 70

In the UK:	ZAR 80

In India:	ZAR 75

In South Africa:	ZAR 150

And this does not take into

Account Purchasing Power

Inability to empathize with fellow

human beings

Propensity for Arbitrary Violent Behaviour

Will someone call the doctor please

Free as in Freedom and free as in free beer

Free and Open content addresses issues of access, cost and creativity

It does this by creating a flexible regime allowing users rights ranging from

1. Reproduction right: the right to reproduce copies of the work (for instance making copies of a book from a manuscript)

2. Adaptation right: the right to produce derivative works based on the copyrighted work; (creating a film based on the book)

3. Distribution right: the right to distribute copies of the work, (circulating the book in bookshops)

4. Performance right: the right to perform the copyrighted work publicly, (having a reading of the book or a dramatic performance of a play) and,

5. Display right: the right to display the copyrighted work publicly. (showing a film or work of art.)

Philosophy of free/open content

The user-producer model

changes brought about by digital technology – e.g. jonathan cauoette’s Tarnation

recognizing the importance of collaborative production

Reconfiguring the binary of the original and the copy and getting into the idea of a rescension

examples

The creator of a website who wants it to be a free, public resource. You would like to allow anyone to mirror your site or use its content for other projects without having to ask you for permission, and you would like to make sure that even after your death, mirroring or continuing the site won't be illegal for 70 years because of standard copyright regulations

A musician or part of a band that wants to make your music available to a larger audience, and you decide that making it available online would be a good idea. But yet you may want to ensure that no one makes any commercial use of your music without your permission.

A part-time photographer or designer who has no problem with any person using your work or sharing it with others as long as they acknowledge your authorship and give you proper credit for it whenever they use your work.

A documentary or experimental filmmaker willing to share your footage with others, and allowing them to use portions while making their films.

Someone looking at using existing images, music, videos etc and mixing them with other content to create a remix or a new version, but who cannot afford to pay the high royalty or be someone interested in having people from other backgrounds use your work, or incorporate it into theirs

An artist whose work fundamentally depends on the ability to use existing material to create parodies, spoofs or subversions

A designer looking at collaborating with either another designer or just someone from a completely different discipline, by using or incorporating their work.

A teacher interested in making your course syllabus available for others to use, so that they comment, add, critique it, or even work collaboratively with you to create an improvement on the course.

A scholar, critic or essayist who wants his writing to be publicly accessible, and is sick of signing over copyrights to journal and book publishers who don't pay you anyway, but make people and public institutions like schools and libraries shell out a lot of money for your publications

A playwright interested in writing an experimental play through an online collaboration model and interested in ensuring that the play is available for everyone to use, but also concerned that any person who creates a version of your play should also allow other the same freedom of modifying or adapting this play that they have written.

Or just someone in the world of cultural production who is sick of the dominant system of copyright and wants to explore other options

Why open content

Popularity and circulation

Dis-intermediation

Copyright litigation or who wants to go to court

As a business model

Public access for public money

Because copyright is insane

Guide to Open Content Licenses

www.altlawforum.org/publications

For hard copy email me your address

lawrence@altlawforum.org

thank you

PowerPoint Presentation

Lawrence Liang

2005-08-31T21:20:22