The resources of future – On ownership, immateriality and copyright
Saara Taalas, Turku School of Economics
One of the distinct conjunctions between the modern industrial society and the postmodern critique centres around the question of mediazation. When in technological terms the Enlightment project was very much mingled with the rise of by the print media, in forms of printed pictures but particularly in text printing, the project later gave birth to mass production of printed books, magazines, and newspapers. This rise of mass print production in particular for the mass society was a development that prompted many of the key writer’s critique around mediazation and mediated experience related to the mass production technologies (e.g. Baudrillard 1970, Benjamin 1936). It is difficult to tell apart the industrialization of media from the development of such ideas.
This development is well demonstrated in the story of copyright; from the birth of the concept in Europe, and its development to its present day forms (e.g. Lessig 2004, Hemmungs Wirtén 2004). Still, it is mainly considered as a practical and juridical question of ownership and control of the usage of creative works, its nature is rooted on the ideas of original creative works, mechanical production of copies, and simple ideas of the nature of ownership. This paper will visit the contested issue of copyright from a socio-economic perspective, not as a legal or pragmatic question but rather to engage critically with the issue to show the great impact it has on the nature of organization of production, and most importantly to the use, consumption, and the negotiation between the production and consumption of creative works.
Technology and changes in the socio-economic landscape have made immaterial rights an increasingly important aspect of the economy as a whole and today affects an increasing amount of businesses. At the same time, the same technological trajectories that have ushered in the information economy have posited grave challenges to the traditional notions of these same immaterial rights, to the confusion and detriment of many companies and consumers. In an age where anything that can be digitized, copied and distributed at almost no cost, there will be an increasing demand for new ways to think not only about the copyright industries but the profound dynamics of how the economy will relate to the future of concepts such as ownership, market, and post-original production when the value creation turn increasingly to creative content such as copyrighted works.
This paper will attempt to visit critically the theories concerning the changing nature of ownership, produce, and consumption in the post-industrial era through the discussions and practices around the copyright using recent examples form the media and creative industries.
References
Baudrillard, J. (1970/1998). The Consumer Society. Myths & Structures. London, SAGE.
Benjamin, W. (1936/1992). The work or art in the age of mechanical reproduction. Art in theory 1900-1990: An anthology of changing ideas. C. Harrison and P. Wood. Oxford, Blackwell.
Hemmungs Wirtén, E. (2004). No Trespassing. Authorship, Intel-lectual Property Rights, and the Boundaries of Globalization. To-ronto: University of Toronto Press.
Lessig, L. (2004). Free Culture. New York: Penguin Press.