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> http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,48625,00.html > > Why Copyright Laws Hurt Culture > By Karlin Lillington > 2:00 a.m. Nov. 27, 2001 PST > > DUBLIN, Ireland -- American copyright laws have gotten so > out of hand > that they are causing the death of culture and the loss of > the world's > intellectual history, according to Stanford technology law > professor > Lawrence Lessig. > > Copyright has bloated from providing 14 years of > protection a century > ago to 70 years beyond the creator's death now, he said, and has > become a tool of large corporations eager to indefinitely prolong > their control of a market. Irving Berlin's songs, for example, will > not go off copyright for 140 years, he said. > > But a war is being waged against copyright "hoarders" in > the corporate > world by new technologies -- such as peer-to-peer communication > programs -- that allow copyright to be circumvented, he said. > > The idea that copyright exists for the benefit of artists, > musicians, > writers or programmers, he argues, is now laughable. New > laws such as > the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act are "not > speaking for those > who create, but those who hold massive amounts of copyright," > [28]Lessig said. > > Lessig was in Dublin to speak at the [29]Darklight Digital Film > Festival. > > Copyright laws in the United States are placing the control of > material into an increasingly "fixed and concentrated" group of > corporate hands, he said. Five record companies now > control 85 percent > of music distribution, for example. > > Because copyright law now also precludes "derivative use" > of copyright > material, people cannot develop new material based on > copyrighted work > without permission. Lessig said this radically changes how human > culture will evolve, since "the property owner has control over how > that subsequent culture is built." > > This restriction also stymies technological innovation, as > developers > cannot follow the long-established practice of taking existing code > and enhancing it to produce something new, he said. > > Because companies in industries such as music, publishing and film > routinely demand that artists hand over copyright on their creative > work, "kids don't own their own culture," said > [30]Electronic Frontier > Foundation founder John Perry Barlow, who also attended the > conference. > > "The period of copyright primacy is going to end up as a > huge hole in > the cultural record." > > Lessig said a major problem is the fact that copyrighted material > simply vanishes because corporations aren't interested in > keeping all > that they copyright commercially available. Such material > "falls into > a black hole where no one will have access to it," he said. > > Belfast film producer Paul Largan of media company > [31]Bandigital said > organizations that fund digital filmmakers demand the > copyright to the > work -- but they may never show the artists' film again after an > initial screening. "Copyright is key," he said, or a work > just dies. > > Another threat to the availability of cultural material > such as older > films, books and music is that it can be difficult or impossible to > establish who owns the rights to a work if the company > that once owned > it goes out of business. "If a corporation goes bankrupt, > we're going > to lose access to our culture," Lessig said. > > But digital and Internet technologies have the potential > to create a > more diverse and open culture, he believes. > > "Digital production and the Internet could change all this, so that > creative action and the distribution of these arts could > be achieved > in a much more diversified way than before," Lessig said. > This would > allow for a "production of culture that doesn't depend on > a narrow set > of images of what culture should be." > > A more open business model in which artists have greater > control over > their productions would create "diverse, competitive industries" > rather than centralized, monopolistic companies, he said. > > New technologies such as peer-to-peer-based communication and > file-exchange programs could force a new look at copyright laws and > profoundly change the methods of distribution, Barlow and > Lessig both > said. > > Irish native and [20]Freenet inventor Ian Clarke said he > hopes Freenet > will help artists distribute their works and find an audience and > market for them. But he acknowledged the program could be > threatened > like Napster, Gnutella and FastTrack. > > "I do believe that through technology, the freedom to > communicate can > be guaranteed," Clarke said. "It's certainly possible that Freenet > could be banned. The question is whether that's enforceable." > > But Lessig said using such programs only to get around existing > copyright law did not offer any true freedom for artists. > "Freedom is > only real when it's a real alternative" -- not a subversive tactic > facing "the perpetual terrorism of lawsuits," he said. > > He said Freenet will come under legal attack "when it gets big > enough." > > Lessig added he doubts the system will change, because corporations > hold enormous power and will do whatever they can to protect "the > survival of the dinosaurs over the coming of the mammals," he said. > > But he also despairs that the younger generation that > understands and > uses digital technology is apolitical and indifferent. Libertarian > "netizens" are also often "politically pathetic," he said. > > "They don't believe they should waste their time, so they don't get > involved." > > Europe has also been "passive," he warned, allowing the > United States > to set the agenda on global copyright law. > > He said his first book, Code, was written to try to > convince Net users > that "you've got to get enraged or it will be gone from under you." >
