music, technology, laws, ethics & transnationalism: a (brief) overview

Music, Technology, Laws, Ethics & Transnationalism: A (brief) OverviewAram Sinnreich, Ph.D.Rutgers University School of Communication & Information

This text is freely available under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

Configurable Culture

Social Architecture Mimics The Tools of Production

This is Doubly So of Musical Production

Networks Have Permeated our Lives

We Have Developed a “Configurable Culture”

This Was the Subject of My First Book

Configurable Cultureby the Numbers

Awareness of Configurable Music

Usage of Configurable Music

Engagement With Configurable Music

Engagement: The Age Gap is Closing

Opinions About Configurable Culture, 2006

Opinions About Configurable Culture, 2010

Opinions About Configurable Culture, 2010

Emerging Ethics

The Ethics of ConfigurabilityUnethical Criterion Ethical

Unpermissioned Legal Permissioned

For profit Commercial Not for profit

Pretension Authenticity Referenced

Unoriginal Innovation Original

Easy Labor Hard work

Bastardization Moral Homage

Rupture Continuity Evolution

Useless/Harmful Value Fun/Beneficial

Ugly Aesthetic Beautiful

Subversive Power Relations Empowering

Meaningless Self Expression Expressive

What Do Americans Care Most About?

Income

US Citizen

Education (yrs)

Female

Male

Age

Survey Mean

Commercial (profit vs. not-for-profit)

100.4%

106.8%

94.6%

103.8%

108.7%

75.3%

Survey Mean

Power Relations (subversive vs. empowering)

Income

US Citizen

Education (yrs)

Female

Male

Age 105.1%

112.7%

89.9%

103.9%

110.9%

113.9%

What Does Everyone Else Care Most About?

Survey Mean

Moral (bastardization vs. homage)

Income

US Citizen

Education (yrs)

Female

Male

Age 95.2%

86.7%

110.6%

102.6%

52.6%

77.2%

Survey Mean

Self Expression (meangingless vs. expressive)

Income

US Citizen

Education (yrs)

Female

Male

Age 76%

102.5%

98%

108.1%

46.1%

73.5%

One Law to Rule them All…

Copyright is Binary; Ethical Systems are Not

LAW (Top Down)

ETHICS (Bottom Up)

Legal Illegal

Right for X Hazy for Y Wrong for Z

Law Emulates/Reinforces the Logic of Industrialization

Industrial Production

Culture

Producer Consumer

Making Engaging Using

How Can One Law Fit All Musical Cultures?

The Theory of “Harmonization”When correct sounds move a man, they cause a spirit of obedience to rise, and when such a spirit has arisen, good order results. As singers blend their voices with that of the leader, so good or evil arise in response to the force that calls them forth. . . [We must] exercise virtue to harmonize and assist the ruler in his undertakings.”

- Xunzi, 270 BCE

Business, economic, and legal principles [such as Intellectual Property] must be considered in combination in order to maximize economic progress and the economic welfare of our citizens. In other words, properly understood and applied, IPR and antitrust law are complementary, not conflicting, legal systems that should be applied harmoniously to promote a vibrant, healthy economy.

- Alden F. Abbott, Federal Trade Commission, at Chinese government IP symposium, 2005 CE

Harmonization in Practice

Stronger US Laws

Stronger Foreign

Laws

Stronger Rulings

Stronger Agreements

Stronger Treaties

Consequences for Civil Liberties

UN: Internet Access is a “Fundamental Human Right.”

Censorship Surveillance Anti-Competition

Consequences for International Relations

La LeySinde

IPRED

Who Would She Rather Be?

Thank you. It’s good to be back.Aram Sinnreich, Ph.D.sinn@rutgers.edu

Books by Aram Sinnreich

Mashed Up (2010)www.mashed-up.com

The Piracy Crusade (2013)www.piracycrusade.com