Internet Optimism versus Internet Pessimism

When Disney were planning to create their first full length animated film in the 1930s they needed a safe choice of story, one that they could rely on to be popular so they could take a risk on their new innovative techniques. What could be a better choice than ‘Snow White’, a well known and liked fairytale from the Brothers Grimm. This rehash of an existing story allowed Disney to develop new techniques in film-making and the outcome was revolutionary. Hollywood itself became the centre of the movie industry when movie makers wanted to get away from Edison and his agents in New York so they could use his patented equipment. The movie industry was based upon evading patent laws to innovate but now they are the strongest proponents for strongly enforced intellectual property laws.

There exists a similar story in the music story from sheet-music printers who protested recorded music, and the people who recorded music went on to protest popular radio.

By stamping down on copyright abuse, the industries are stifling innovation within their respective fields. Piracy has already shown that there is a gap in the market for easy to access media which they are only starting to counter with free to stream such as Spotify or Hulu, they should learn from the popularity of piracy, not attempt to stifle.

Looking at the music industry, there is evidence that stopping downloads showed no increase in sales, on the contrary, piracy has been shown to promote innovation and actually lead to an increase in sales (see sources). It is also obvious that the loss in popularity is massive. It would be more beneficial for artists if the fight against copyright was given up and instead, people were pushed to share files and tell their friends about new music.

But the industries want to keep their monopoly on success, they don’t really care about the real talent or how much new creators can break through. Artists can now flourish without corporate backing by uploading their own content and spreading through word of mouth. Only the professionals are against piracy, the amateurs use it to their advantage. Filesharing allows people to see content they would never have thought of seeking out before. Music was around for generations before copyright and was never short of innovation, to say new music would die without it is just wrong.

Still, most can agree the concept of copyright is good, giving artists security of earnings, but where did it go wrong? Author and former IP lawyer Barry Eisner explains: ‘extending the monopoly past the point at which it creates the incentive itself is harmful to society, because doing so keeps copyrighted works out of the public domain. Think of it this way: anything beyond what’s required to incentivise artists is a windfall to artists and a detriment to society.’

This is the real issue that needs to look at. Although artists should gain from their work, when there power over it extends too much it becomes detrimental to society with little or no added benefit to the incentive it gives. Copyright needs reforming in society’s favour.

Sources:
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100303/1430578394.shtml
http://boingboing.net/2011/12/03/swiss-govt-study-downloadin.html
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110725/04104115231/new-study-piracy-increases-quality-content.shtml
http://pubs.doc.ic.ac.uk/piracy-and-innovation/