Week 1 Reading: Response to Jim Farmer's post

Jim's Post:

I was really intrigued by the documentary when they spoke about the Brazilian, Nigerian, and Swedish laws and how they were almost trendsetters. Laurence Lessig and many of the other interviewees spoke very well about the need to adapt our current laws to the new technologies that so many people have access to. We are no longer protecting printed materials that were produced on a printing press. Everyone has the capability to be a producer and I think this is a fundamental change in all societies and how they handle copyright laws. Many of these laws, were conceived before the ease of file sharing and collaborating became the norm for many. I think the point that Mr. Lessig made about being more open with sharing would increase the revenue for many artists that do not see a dime from their works being distributed was right on target.

The idea that suing your customer base to keep pirates at bay (pun intended) is ridiculous. Sending someone to jail and fining them tens of thousands of dollars is not a way to endear yourself to the public that you want as paying customers. There are lots of examples of artists trying new methods and being quite successful. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails started his own record label, The Null Corporation, in which he released his album as a free download with options for purchasing extras. The Grateful Dead toured for decades and encouraged recording and sharing of their music. There are many examples of musicians that have done well in the new economy of the information age.

I am not arguing for pirating and the blatant disrespect for others hard work, but I do feel that times have changed and we must adapt to the new methods of distribution and sharing or we will stifle the artistic possibilities that these new technologies afford us. Just as education is dealing with how to handle smart phones, tablets, and mp3 players that have more computing power than the Apollo spacecraft, so to must society adjust to this new world.

P.S. I am not a Nine Inch Nails fan, just a fan of Trent Reznor's willingness to try something different and put his fans first.



My Response:

Those were some good points you covered, especially about the need to change copyright law to match the needs of the times. With technology becoming more and more widely available sharing of all kinds is at an all time high. Especially with the economy as it is now, people are less and less willing to pay $20 for a CD when they can just get it from a torrent. Artists are indeed entitled to their due, we just need to figure out a new way for them to get it. The old copyright was fine when it was just paper copies, but now that ideas can be created and shared in so many forms, a new kind of law needs to be set up to accomodate them. If companies spent more time trying to create this new system instead of suing 'piraters' for outrageous sums, things would definitely be better for both consumer and creator.