The PFF (pronounced "pffft") has been conferencing the last week, calling for copyright reform in the next Congress.
Reform is needed. But not the type the PFF wants. Their interest remains protecting the content control of major corporations. Nothing wrong with corporations per se, but the public interest is different.
The Constitution states that it’s "To promote the progress of
science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and
discoveries."
If the Netroots are to secure a lasting re-alignment, Democrats need to get this issue right, and put the reality of our copyright laws in line with their intent.
In terms of the Internet, this means two things:
- Allow fair use, including the use of copyrighted material to create new material.
- Prevent copyright from vetoing the creation of new technology.
Technology can, if we let it, create new products from old, endlessly recycling and building value for all. Technology can also give us the power to consume more copyrighted material, which benefits copyright holders. The only limit here is our time, which is becoming increasingly valuable.
The problems for the copyright industries, then, are not legal problems, but business model problems. What’s needed are new ways to shake money out of the limited time and attention we have available for consumption, which is no longer a passive but an active process.
There are some hints that the copyright industries are starting to get this. Music labels are looking to eliminate DRM, at the same time they engage in spamigation. Common ground can be found, if the copyright industries are willing to seek it.
I’d also add a desire to limit copyright terms to what’s necessary for
incenting the creator of material, not the corporation which acquires
the copyright or the creators’ descendants down to the last generation. We need to expand the commons available to Internet
users, not contract it. That’s the way to get more.
And more is what we need. More books, more music, more films, more of
everything. Any law which stands in the way of the production of more
needs to be changed.
