by Alex Roldan
How can society make cultural works available to the widest possible public at affordable prices while, at the same time, assuring a dignified economic existence to creators and performers and the business associates who help them to navigate the economic system? This was the question posed by Francis Gurry, director general of the Intellectual Property Organization in his speech during a conference at the Queensland University in Australia early this year.
He was referring to the consequences of the digital technology and the internet to the intellectual property right system. I see it as a clear indication of the impending collapse of the entire system. It is already undeniable that the old principles of intellectual property regulation are not working anymore because of the internet.
But I see some positive notes to this. The advent of digital technology and the Internet has strengthened the democratization of knowledge that in the past is exclusive only to a few. The new technology provides the most cost-efficient and reliable reproduction and distribution of cultural works around the globe at instantaneous speed!
This is an issue for the creators and those who helped them have a dignified economic existence while at the same time sharing these works to the widest possible public at affordable prices.
The negative effect is also certain. It will destroy the foundations of the business models of pre-digital industries. This will de-motivate those with creative minds because even the short-term gratification and the economic incentives from their works are immediately denied to them in just a click of the computer mouse. The chances of economic incentives that reward creativity that promotes a dynamic culture would certainly be stunted. Consequently, availability of new ideas and creations will become sparse instead and the cultural dynamism that we are currently experiencing will become a thing of the past.
The challenge now is on how to balance these interests – the creator who without doubt has the right to benefit from the value of his works on one hand, and the consumers and the society as a whole who also have the right to access cultural works.
It is now impossible to reverse the changes that the technological advantage has produced to humanity. Resisting it would mean a road leading back to the Stone Age. It is inevitable that without intelligent engagement of the issue, the natural advantages that technology has given us will stop to evolve or will perish. A difficult choice, isn’t it?
We are faced with an issue whose answer is like a moving target. Every time you arrive at a solution, another problem emerges. Countries may impose stricter and more rigid copyright laws, but even this will just be in vain. Encouraged by the demand and the advances of newer technologies, lawmakers all over the world will surely be disheartened by the realization that their hard works will no longer matter as soon as these are implemented.
This is the newest revolution that challenges the world order that we know today. The digital technology has created a world with virtually no known boundaries. People share every available information and work under the very noses of the powerless regulators. Many countries are unenthusiastic to discuss any international action in this area for the simple reason that their economies are direct beneficiaries of this situation!
My thoughts on this issue bring me to the realization that maybe, it is time for a more radical solution to this problem. I believe that it is the time to change the common belief that complicated and complex problems of copyright require complicated solutions. Why can’t we make copyright laws uncomplicated?
Technologies have very short lifetimes, and trying to make a fuss over this soon to be antique technologies will only be a waste of time. Why not make it open to humankind after a short period?
Microsoft for example, upgrades their computer operating systems faster than the consumer can anticipate. Raiding offices and internet cafés for pirated past versions of their operating systems is useless as this will not stop the problem. The new computer programs that they churn out every now and then will ensure their cash registers ringing while keeping the rest who cannot afford to be happy with older versions if they sell it cheap to the public. The same situation applies to the music industry that insists to sell their works at sky-high prices that only results to lost audiences and public support. Their ultimate objective of high revenue suffers instead.
The American record industry was on the decline at the start of this century because of piracy, but they were clever enough to use get the technology on their side. They liberated controls and used the internet to sell – at dirt cheap prices! The result is a renewed industry whose revenues are unsurpassed in history.
What I am saying is that liberating the intellectual property laws, I believe, is our only hope to protect cultural works from piracy and counterfeiting and radiate its benefits to everyone in this planet. This should also apply to non-digital technologies such as medicines that are basic to all. Get what I mean?
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