creativity
Contextualizing the copyright debate: reward vs. creativity
In a post on the declining revenues of the record business, progressive blogger Matt Yglesias wrote
Continue reading »UN: Don’t Jail Illegal File-Sharers
Francis Gurry, director-general of the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), says the solution to illegal P2P piracy isn’t “putting teenagers in jail.” Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a UN agency created in 1967 “to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world,” gave a speech at the opening of India’s 5th International Forum on Creativity and Inventions in which he stressed that jailing convicted illegal file-sharers was not the solution to piracy. “I don’t believe we are going to win this, (to) find the solution by putting teenagers in jail,” said Gurry. “I think that is not going to win public sympathy.” “Part of the battle here is to sensitize the public to the fact that there is a real issue involved.
Continue reading »‘To join REFF you need to break the law!’
Scambioetico is the Italian movement for the decriminalization of P2P and the defense of net neutrality, a part of the European Coalition Opennet , and REFF , explains Scambioetico press officer Gianfranco in an email to a2f2a.com co-founder Billy Bragg. Under REFF, “artists, writers, musicians, designers, architects and creatives can submit their works, as long as they are created by remixing, mashing up, cutting-up, recontextualizing, squatting, morphing one or more ‘objects’ that are subject to copyright/patent restrictions,” says the site, noting in bold type: “ Yes, to join REFF you need to break the law!” After saying he was glad to see a2f2a.com go online, Gianfranco brings up the recent French debacle under which Nicolas ‘3 Strikes’ Sarkozy demonstrated his overwhelming commitment to Hollywood and the Big 4 record labels , and his “extreme contempt for the people who elected him,” as p2pnet put it recently, going on »»» France’s parliament … gave its final approval to the Three Strikes bill created principally by the entertainment industry, with the software and gaming houses in the wings. It gives the cartels the power have anyone they accuse of being an illegal downloader taken offline without proof of wrong-doing.
Continue reading »World’s First BitTorrent Powered Live Streamed Concert
The Far North Living Lab was started by the Northern Research Institute (Norut) and aims to create a platform for digital creativity. Earlier this year the lab kicked off with a spectacular experiment in which they used the Tribler BitTorrent client to stream a 2K resolution film onto the big screen. For that experiment the stream was only broadcasted to a select group of people and not the entire Internet.
Continue reading »UK artists "vehemently oppose" three strikes
Remember all those ads a few years back with artists telling you that downloading the song is the same as stealing a CD in a store? Times are changing, and people are getting wiser: Three UK groups representing songwriters, performing musicians and music producers have come out with a strong-worded statement against renewed plans to institute a three strikes policy in their country. The Featured Artists Coalition , the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors , and the Music Producers Guild count musicians like Kate Nash, Robbie Williams, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney and Elton John amongst their members, just to name a few, and their joint statement is worth reading in full: “Response to the Department for Business Innovation & Skills Consultation on Legislation to Address Illicit Peer-to-Peer (P2P) File-Sharing from the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) and the Music Producers Guild (MPG) The above organisations, who between them represent the people who write, perform and produce music believe that the protection offered by copyright to recording artists, composers and songwriters is vital if the UK is to continue to be at the forefront of the global music industry.
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