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Can it be that the genie is at long last out of the bottle?
Craven is pretty sure the recent hubbub surrounding the so-called SOPA and PIPA bills in Congress will be remembered as a milestone moment in the history of intellectual property rights. What was expected to be the story of an easy shoo-in benefiting the recording and motion picture industries instead metamorphosized into a very modern tale of public outrage and political backpedaling.
In case you've been living under a rock for the past few months, know that the Stop Online Privacy Act (sponsored in the House by Texas Republican Lamar Smith) and the Senate's corresponding Protect IP Act (introduced by Democrat Patrick Leahy and 11 other senators) were bills brought forward in 2011 ostensibly to protect intellectual properties from copyright infringement and counterfeiting, but which were eventually judged in the court of popular opinion to be over-reaching gimmes to the entertainment industry that would have stifled online communications by allowing websites to be shut down on nothing more than a say-so from industry lobbying groups like the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America.
Politicians blanched and industry executives collectively muttered “Homina homina homina” in a slack-jawed daze when what at first seemed to be non-controversial legislation with bipartisan support was suddenly and unexpectedly upended by a tsunami of public indignation.
While many see the subsequent shelving of both bills in January as a triumph of democracy, the entire affair is a powerful reminder of the insidious and far-reaching changes wrought in intellectual property law during the past half-century. Because during that time, copyright has been thoroughly transformed from a protection designed to ensure the free dissemination of ideas to a discourse-stifling cudgel wielded in defense of corporate coffers.
How did this happen? After all, according to conventional wisdom, the copyright originated as a means of encouraging “learned men to compose and write useful books.” But, as we shall see, the reality is much more complicated.
In the next couple weeks, we'll use this space to take a look at how the focus of copyright law has shifted from protecting authors to serving multi-national legal departments. We'll see how this has served not authors, musicians and writers, but distributors and middle-men. We'll examine industry claims that copyright infringement has hurt artists, damaged the American entertainment industry, or “stolen jobs.” We'll discuss a few recent developments that present a glimmer of hope. And we'll offer some ideas for how copyright law could be adjusted to once again promote the free exchange of ideas which a healthy culture requires.
If the SOPA/PIPA battle has taught us nothing else, it is that if the bottle yet traps the genie, it may be up to us to uncork it.
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Notes is supported by the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado, partnering with the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado to promote the values of mutual respect, religious diversity, inclusiveness, compassion, and justice.
Craven is pretty sure the recent hubbub surrounding the so-called SOPA and PIPA bills in Congress will be remembered as a milestone moment in the history of intellectual property rights. What was expected to be the story of an easy shoo-in benefiting the recording and motion picture industries instead metamorphosized into a very modern tale of public outrage and political backpedaling.
In case you've been living under a rock for the past few months, know that the Stop Online Privacy Act (sponsored in the House by Texas Republican Lamar Smith) and the Senate's corresponding Protect IP Act (introduced by Democrat Patrick Leahy and 11 other senators) were bills brought forward in 2011 ostensibly to protect intellectual properties from copyright infringement and counterfeiting, but which were eventually judged in the court of popular opinion to be over-reaching gimmes to the entertainment industry that would have stifled online communications by allowing websites to be shut down on nothing more than a say-so from industry lobbying groups like the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America.
Politicians blanched and industry executives collectively muttered “Homina homina homina” in a slack-jawed daze when what at first seemed to be non-controversial legislation with bipartisan support was suddenly and unexpectedly upended by a tsunami of public indignation.
While many see the subsequent shelving of both bills in January as a triumph of democracy, the entire affair is a powerful reminder of the insidious and far-reaching changes wrought in intellectual property law during the past half-century. Because during that time, copyright has been thoroughly transformed from a protection designed to ensure the free dissemination of ideas to a discourse-stifling cudgel wielded in defense of corporate coffers.
How did this happen? After all, according to conventional wisdom, the copyright originated as a means of encouraging “learned men to compose and write useful books.” But, as we shall see, the reality is much more complicated.
In the next couple weeks, we'll use this space to take a look at how the focus of copyright law has shifted from protecting authors to serving multi-national legal departments. We'll see how this has served not authors, musicians and writers, but distributors and middle-men. We'll examine industry claims that copyright infringement has hurt artists, damaged the American entertainment industry, or “stolen jobs.” We'll discuss a few recent developments that present a glimmer of hope. And we'll offer some ideas for how copyright law could be adjusted to once again promote the free exchange of ideas which a healthy culture requires.
If the SOPA/PIPA battle has taught us nothing else, it is that if the bottle yet traps the genie, it may be up to us to uncork it.
------------------
Notes is supported by the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado, partnering with the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado to promote the values of mutual respect, religious diversity, inclusiveness, compassion, and justice.
