The rise of digital technologies and the Internet has made the current copyright regime antiquated, at best, and irrelevant at worst. For various reasons, the patent and copyright laws seem increasingly unworkable given business and social realities of today. What would (or will?) the world be like without copyright and patent rights?
That was the question posed to CEOs at a workshop of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week. According to the Financial Times article covering the session, some among the breakout groups that tackled the question saw real advantages to industry and consumers in increased efficiency and increased “personalization of products” (not quite sure what that means). Regarding media in the digital age,
Companies could also aim to make money from context rather than content. A film company, for example, could generate income by providing a stimulating cinema experience rather than selling the film itself. But the film industry might also have to face some unpleasant truths.
“Since the time of the pharaohs the pyramids have not been built. We should expect the death of Titanic the movie. The idea of spending a quarter of a billion dollars on a film about a sinking ship” is no longer going to work, said Jonathan Zittrain, professor of internet governance at Harvard and Oxford universities.
One has to wonder how many of these CEOs found it an interesting exercise for an hour, but consider it little more than that. Will they be so open to some of the ideas floated during the session when the realization hits, perhaps sooner than later, that copyright and patent laws in their present forms really are out of step with technological and social realities?