MPAA: “Democratizing Culture Is Not In Our Interest”
• Ernesto
• 20/04/2011
http://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-democratizing-culture-is-not-in-our-interest-110420/
MPAA Vice President Greg Frazier has made some interesting comments on
copyright and widespread Internet piracy during a lobbying visit to Brazil.
Among other things, Frazier told a local newspaper that democratizing culture
is not in the interests of the MPAA. As it turns out, the MPAA’s definition of
creativity and culture is a rather narrow one that is quite different from that
of the general public.
The MPAA sent its Vice President Greg Frazier to Brazil this week to carry out
some damage control.
Last year the former president of Brazil posed with Pirate Bay founder Peter
Sunde and vowed not to cave in to the interests of the copyright lobby. But
with the change of leadership the MPAA sees new chances, and so Frazier went to
Brazil to convince local politicians that tougher anti-piracy laws are needed.
In common with most Latin American countries, piracy is widespread in Brazil.
According to a recent study more than half of all people living in urban areas
regularly pirate movies, something the MPAA believes has to be stopped.
In an interview with local newspaper Folha, Frazier commented on the threat
piracy poses to the major studios, responding with the classic textbook answers
we’ve heard hundreds of times before.
“If you do not believe in the value of creativity, the importance of protecting
it and the need to reward those who produce, then maybe you can justify piracy.
But in that case you’ll be doing great harm to culture,” Frazier said. Please
note the words ‘creativity’ and ‘culture’ in his answer, as we’ll come back to
that later.
The reporter then went on to ask how important copyright really is when 44% of
households in Brazil are not connected to the sewer system. Not really a fair
question, but Frazier made it very clear that even when people are starving it
would be immoral to ‘steal’ entertainment from U.S. corporations.
“Obviously, governments and societies have to work to make sure that the
population has access to the basics in order to survive, but that does not mean
you should ignore other things. Companies must live together because they
respect each other and respect that people do not steal from one another. Even
if you battle to put food on your plate, it is immoral to steal,” he said.
Things got more interesting when Frazier responded in a surprisingly open
manner when asked about Creative Commons licenses, which allow for a more
flexible approach to copyright. Creative Commons licenses are very popular in
Brazil and the reporter wanted to know what the MPAA’s view on this approach is.
“They [Creative Commons supporters] don’t always agree with what we advocate,”
Frazier responded. “And you are talking about democratizing culture, this is
not in our interests. It really isn’t my interest.”
Although this answer may not really come as a surprise, combined with his
previous answers it shows how subjective the MPAA’s view on creativity and
culture is. According to the MPAA piracy is ruining culture, but at the same
time they are not allowing others to use even tiny snippets of their works.
The MPAA is apparently only interested in creativity and culture when it
applies to the works their studios produce. Needless to say, this isn’t
necessarily what’s most beneficial to society. The MPAA is merely protecting
their corporate interests.
For the general public, culture and creativity are probably better off with
less restrictive copyright laws. This doesn’t mean that it should be okay to
pirate every Hollywood blockbuster, but the laws that are put in place to
please the movie studios are the same ones that cripple the creativity of tens
of thousands of other artists and the public at large.
To the MPAA and many others in the entertainment industry, copyright has little
to do with the word right, nor with creativity and culture. Instead, it’s a
restrictive tool that allows works to be traded, leased and licensed in return
for money.
Indeed, democratizing culture is not in the MPAA’s interest, but maximizing
profits and control is.
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