This is a must read: Intellectual Property and new Copyright Law | Japan -- Business People Technology | www.japaninc.com. Best snippets:
"But are things really that dire? Some would argue that these industries
are healthier now than they ever have been. With the spread of
information at a never before seen level, pieces of journalism are
being read more now than ever, music artists are able to reach a
broader audience than ever (some by bypassing the record labels
all-together), and movies are being watched by more people in more
countries..."
"The issue is control, and the embodiment of that control is copyright. The music industry is perhaps most illustrative of the issue..."
"Currently in Japan, new copyright laws are being debated which could make average users subject to civil law suits from record labels or movie distribution companies. Within the walls of mega-forum 2-Channel and the Japanese blogosphere, debate has been raging over the laws and what they will mean exactly for the average user. Specifically the outright banning of illegal downloads—music, movies and games being the main points of interest—is currently being investigated by a sub-committee appointed by the central government. Presently, Japan’s copyright law makes an exception in the case of downloads for personal use..."
"The industry veteran [IFPI's John Kennedy] says he believes a large increase in resources will not be needed to govern the Internet—warnings and enforcements will just need to be carried out in a similar way to any other law. “People call the Internet an ‘Information Super Highway.’ Well like any normal highway, it can be governed. If someone is speeding you give them a ticket and in extreme cases you take away their license.” But how about finding them? “People sit in their rooms and think they are anonymous but they are not—their IP address says exactly who they are,” says Kennedy..."
"Media futurist Gerd Leonhard [Me] says that in a globally networked world, with an expected 3.5 billion mobile users and Internet speeds increasing exponentially within the next two to four years, the traditional Western concept of exclusive copyright must be reviewed. “It is the purpose of copyright to generate sustainable and growing revenues for the creators, not to prevent new uses of their works that may eventually result in those new incomes. He believes that in the future, “many of these models will be more like flat-rated or bundled access models, rather than unit-sales based models.”
***"A recent case involving Google may help provide a blueprint for content creators. In October, Google settled a dispute with authors and publishers over its scanning of 7 million books for digital versions of printed material. The company paid $125 million to publishers and authors and will, from now on, provide a percentage share of the profits from ads and downloading fees. Under the agreement, Google would receive 37 percent of revenue while publishers and authors would get the rest. The settlement could pave the way for similar agreements within other industries..."
"Ito continues, “While it is important to protect copyright and the incentives that copyright (and intellectual property) provide, it is important that we do not prevent many of the basic things that people want to do with content or prevent some of the potential new ways that people will be expressing themselves and sharing this expression.”
"Futurist Leonhard says the key to making money in a post super-connected world is to embrace the concept of losing control. He believes that “a continued loss of control over IP and copyright and most other measures of restrictions is absolutely inevitable; and in fact, the less control we will have the more new revenues will surface.” Leonhard believes that “The future of creativity, content and media is bright, as it is the human creativity and its embodiments that will be even more valuable in a world of ubiquitous access and huge growth of output. It is the value and dollar system and logic that we need to rebuild and adapt—and the law is, of course, there to support this, and will therefore be adapted. This process is not new, just more drastic since the Web is often removing many old ways to get money out of scarcity while not yet offering the same profit in a plausible new way yet. This new logic needs more than 3 percent of the global population on broadband, and always-on, to generate increasing revenues from those new ideas. Another 24 months and we should have a much better take on this.”
This is really well-written and nicely researched, balanced column by Michael Condon - kudos!
this blog is good information
Posted by: tika sumarti | February 20, 2010 at 04:50 AM