Copyright, the Internet and Digitalization

Digitized Media

• Copy, Reproduction, Manipulation and Transmission is Easy– CDs and DVDs can have the files copied from the

them (sometimes using programs called rippers)– Internet text can by copied and pasted– Internet images can be copied by dragging to

desktop or right click (save picture as)– Internet video can be captured by screen capture

Copyright Law

• Allows the holder of the copyright to restrict copying and transmission of a work in some concrete form

• In U.S.A. copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.

• International copyright law exists

Copyright

• The “right” exists from the moment of creation and does not need to be registered although non-registration sets limits on damages that can be recovered

• In the past, authors of books and recordings, etc. often allow a company to acquire their copyright in exchange for better distribution, promotion and hopefully great material gain

Fair Use

• Provides a loophole to allow limited amounts of a copyrighted work to be used in criticism and research so long as the commercial value of the work is not damaged

Transformative Use

• To the extent that a new work uses copyrighted materials to produce a new work with creative value well beyond its inclusion of the copyrighted material

• Mashup - Example

Types of Copyright Theft

• Pirate• Bootleg• Counterfit• Online Privacy

Digitalization

• The shift digital encoding created materials that could be copied and reproduced with no loss in quality and at very little cost

• Digital Files and Writable CDs and DVDs became means of making copies

Internet

• The Internet created a transmission system for digital materials and file sharing sites became major sources of obtaining digital material

Audio Recording Industry Hard Hit

• Estimate of a loss of about $5 billion a year

Problem Enforcing

• So many people engage in illegal copyright violation, that is hard to enforce

• Much of the impact on the recording industry is by small-scale illegal copying and sharing by individuals

• Singling out individuals to discourage others does not seem effective

Alternatives

• Creative Commons Licensing• http://creativecommons.org/• Why many are choosing

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA and PIPA)

• Proposed penalties to sites that allow illegal use of copyrighted materials– Block access to the site– Prohibit the site from selling advertising

Medium Determinism

• That media themselves regardless of their content have profound effects on society

Harold Innis

• Canadian Sociologist– Professor of Political Economy at the University of

Toronto (1894-1952)• Wrote about how Canadians history was influence by

the exploitation of Canada for timber, fur, etc.• Also wrote about media

– Empire and Communications» Time-biased (speech) vs. space-biased (writing)

communication» Space-biased – portability vs. permanence

Marshall McLuhan

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpIYz8tfGjY

Marshall McLuhan

• Marshal McLuhan (1911-1980), Professor of English, University of Toronto

• Gutenberg Galaxy• Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

• The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects with Quentin Fiore (1967)

• The world is a global village• Oral communication is not linear• Print resulted in linear thought• New electronic media are returning the world

to a non-linear more oral form of communication

• Media are extensions of ourselves

Joshua Meyrowitz

• Professor of Communication, University of New Hampshire at Durham

• Book – No Sense of Place (1986)– Television with its extensive coverage of

everything/everywhere had created a new situation in which• The separation of the adult/child worlds was impossible• It was impossible for a President to speak to one audience at a

particular location and contradict himself when speaking to a different audience at another location

• That the separation of front stage/backstage behavior by public officials was now difficult to manage

Some Possible Internet and Mobile Device Media Determinism Effects

• Carr – the outsourcing of memory• Surveillance – we know where others are and when they

are connected (but act as if our own communication is anonymous) – mistrust is created when we suspect someone is hiding the fact that they are connected or hiding their true identity

• Information Overload – we are active avoiders of information

• Work/Play – Work/Home no longer segregated• Illusion of anonymity – sense that what we do is

anonymous and unobserved