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Smiers, Joost --- "Is copyright fit for the 21st century? No!" [2010] ELECD 333; in Grosheide, Willem (ed), "Intellectual Property and Human Rights" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Intellectual Property and Human Rights

Editor(s): Grosheide, Willem

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848444478

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: Is copyright fit for the 21st century? No!

Author(s): Smiers, Joost

Number of pages: 13

Extract:

6. Is copyright fit for the 21st century?
No!
Joost Smiers*

1. HARD TO IMAGINE
Some serious cracks are surfacing in the system of copyright as we have
known it in the Western world for a couple of centuries. The system is substan-
tially more beneficial for cultural conglomerates than for the average artist; a
situation that cannot last. Furthermore, it seems inescapable that digitization is
undermining the foundations of the copyright system. It must be acknowl-
edged that several authors have recently presented analyses of the untenabil-
ity of the contemporary system of copyright. Yet, most of their observations
only allude to ­ but do not address ­ what we deem the most fundamental
question of all: if copyright is inherently unjust, what could come in its place
to guarantee artists ­ creative and performing ­ a fair compensation for their
labours, and how can we prevent knowledge and creativity from being priva-
tized (Bettig 1996; Bollier 2003: 119­34; Boyle 1996; Coombe 1998; Drahos
2002, 2002a; Frith 2004; Lessig 2002, 2004; Litman 2001; Perelman 2002;
Vaidhyanathan 2003). It is time to move beyond merely criticizing copyright.
The pressing question is: which alternative can we offer artists and other
cultural entrepreneurs in rich as well as poor countries that benefits them, and
that brings the increasing privatization of creativity and expertise to a halt?
Our goal in this chapter is to develop such an alternative, and to move beyond
any notion centred on private intellectual property rights.
This chapter is an essay. We ...