Assessing the impact of the Digital Economy Act

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Brief history of copyright Piracy: rhetoric of filesharing Policy: UK government 2006-present Participation: public responses Politics?

“Faith in law will not be an effective strategy for high tech companies. Law adapts by continuous increments and at a pace second only to geology in its stateliness. Technology advances in … lunging jerks, like the punctuation of biological evolution grotesquely accelerated. Real world conditions will continue to change at a blinding pace, and the law will get further behind, more profoundly confused. This mismatch is permanent” John Perry Barlow, 1993

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Vocal critics of copyright

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History of copyright law Statute of Anne 1709 Licensing Act 1662 Statute of Monopolies 1656

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History of copyright law Statute of Anne 1709 Exclusive copyright to last 21

years

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History of copyright law Copyright Act 1842 Sheet music copyright = life of

author + 7 years

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History of copyright law Copyright (Musical Compositions)

Act 1882 Include public recital or

performance of their work

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History of copyright law Berne Convention 1886 International protection

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History of copyright law Musical Copyright Act 1906 Copyright Act 1911

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History of copyright law Copyright Designs and Patents Act

1988 (CDPA)

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History of copyright law Copyright Designs and Patents

Act 1988 (CDPA) Extension of copyright in most

literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works until 70 years after the death of the creator

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History of copyright law Copyright and Related Rights

Regulations 2003 Directive 2001/29/EC (aka

European Copyright Directive) Injunctions against ISPs

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Implementation

RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) BPI (British Phonographic Industry) UK Music FAC (Featured Artists Coalition)

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Copyright law is…1. …powerful and far-reaching in the rights it grants

copyright holders

3. …is confusing and often contradictory when applied across regions

5. … protects the interests of established rights holders in perpetuity and prevents creative entering the public domain

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“Faith in law will not be an effective strategy for high tech companies. Law adapts by continuous increments and at a pace second only to geology in its stateliness. Technology advances in … lunging jerks, like the punctuation of biological evolution grotesquely accelerated. Real world conditions will continue to change at a blinding pace, and the law will get further behind, more profoundly confused. This mismatch is permanent” John Perry Barlow, 1993

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Singles market

1970s until 1999: annual UK singles sales = 70 million Since 1999, this has more than halved.

(BPI, 2005: p8)

2008: growth of 33% 115 million + sales

(BPI, 2009)

UK music market 1997-2009 (millions)

Data supplied by The Official Charts Company (BPI Press Release: 7th Jan 2009)

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UK music market 1997-2009 (millions)

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UK music industry is growing

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Revenues up by 4.7% Growth in secondary

markets

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7 million filesharers?

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Sources: UK National Statistics; SABIP

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Policy: Gowers Review

Chapter 2 cited BPI figures claiming that the music industry had lost £414 million in lost sales (2005)

£278 million (2003) Uptake in broadband internet

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Policy: Gowers Review

Chapter 5 – Recommendation 39 Encourage co-operation between

rights holders and ISPs

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Policy: Digital Britain (Interim)

‘a fundamental change in consumer expectations, particularly among the young’ (2009: p41)

BPI: £180 million IFPI: £1.1 billion by 2012

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Policy: Digital Britain

Chapter 4: Actions 12 and 13 covered the possibilities of rights holders and ISPs ‘funding a new approach to civil enforcement of copyright’

70% reduction in filesharing

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Policy: public consultation

France: HADOPI 3 strikes and disconnection Accusation vs conviction Secretary of State power of secondary

legislation Over 220 responses – no consensus

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Ofcom powers regarding media regulation

Filesharing Channel 4’s remit Commercial TV licences Regional TV news Radio spectrum Video games Intellectual property

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3 readings in the House of Lords Lord Puttnam:

the Bill was being rushed through without sufficient scrutiny and that legislators were subject to an ‘extraordinary degree of lobbying’ from copyright holders

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Clauses 17 and 18 3 strikes Web blocking powers Written by the industry

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"a bill of this size would probably have a one-day second reading debate and then about 60 to 80 hours in committee, where it would be scrutinised line by line, clause by clause". However, under the current accelerated schedule, "it will receive one day for second reading and at the very most, two hours in a committee of the whole house. The government will programme the debate so huge chunks of the bill might not receive any scrutiny at all...” cited by Doctorow, 2010

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“A participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices. A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection with one another” Jenkins, 2006

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Summary

ISPs won a judicial review against the Act Filesharing is not decreasing Government has granted more punitive powers

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‘Instead of exploring P2P exchange as a business opportunity, they defined it as a piratical threat. In doing so, they inadvertently implied that they had the right to determine how people apply after-sales use of intellectual property by re-asserting commercial copyright in a set of relations that were effectively deregulated.’ (Rojek, 2005: 359)

“Faith in law will not be an effective strategy for high tech companies. Law adapts by continuous increments and at a pace second only to geology in its stateliness. Technology advances in … lunging jerks, like the punctuation of biological evolution grotesquely accelerated. Real world conditions will continue to change at a blinding pace, and the law will get further behind, more profoundly confused. This mismatch is permanent” John Perry Barlow, 1993

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S1, ToobyDoo, 2008, “Piracy”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/toobydoo/2476286356/

S8-10, Liako, 2009, “Piracy: it’s a crime”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/liako/3558668316/

S12, Dr Stephen Dann, 2006, “piracyisacrime 29—09-2005 9-51-37 PM”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephendann/80725933/

S13-15, c3o, 2006, “Anti piracy ads”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/c3o/244072083/

S16, 40, Selma90, 2009, “Apple”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/selma90/3675162262/

S41, Jamougha, 2009, “DVD Magic”, P47, Selma90, 2009, “Apple” http://www.flickr.com/photos/selma90/3675162262/

S43-44, scribbletaylor, 2009, “20th April: Technology and gadgets”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/64958688@N00/3463716076/

S48, A. Diez Herrero, 2007, “creative commons -Franz Patzig-”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/21572939@N03/2090542246/

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Image sources

P1,2, 5, Automania, 2005, “Christmas Music”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/automania/74037479/ P6, hc gilje, 2007, “EMI Electola”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hcgilje/501769056/ P7, 8, aus_chick, 2006, “EMI”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/hcgilje/501769056/ P10, 25, 34, myuibe, 2008, “copyright and digital culture”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/myuibe/2132305949/ P11, 12, 16, 17, _ambrown, 2006, “Music Millenium, Portland Oregon”,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dietpoison/195288442/ P18, p_kirn, 2007, “Handmade Music 8/23/07 with Etsy Labs, CDM, and Make”,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/p_kirn/1218971167/ P31-3, karola riegler photography, 2009, “Vinyl kills the mp3 industry”,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/karola/3639759076/ P35, 37, Ferrari + caballos + fuerza = cerebro Humano, 2009, “Musica comprimida – Compressed Music”,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gallery-art/3497849677/ P38, GabryPk, 2008, “Music Is My Drug pt. 2”, http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrypk/3107000631/ P47, Selma90, 2009, “Apple” http://www.flickr.com/photos/selma90/3675162262/

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