MEDIA FORUM 
(June 23-27, 2001)
 in the frame of XXIII Moscow International Film Festival Rambler's Top100

F e s t i v a l & C o n f e r e n c e

  

 

The Conference "Access to Excess " - part of the Media Forum.

The "Copyright" Round Table Discussion.

 

Moderators - Olga Goryunova, Olga Shishko.

The copyright being aimed at protection of nonmaterial values, such as art or literature works, has traditionally been linked with the form, the material carrier of the copyright object. The difficulty of copying (the basis of restrictions in handling the copyright object, a part of the English term, in law terminology replaced by recording, reproduction and publication) of the material carrier promoted obedience to the copyright laws.

With the changes in the nature of information (transfer to digital technologies) it became possible to copy not the carrier, but the content itself with low expense and without wearing out the starting material which presented serious problems for the authors, lawyers and frequently for the viewers/users.

No open source movement activist or copyleft supporter will oppose the author’s right to gain profits from his paper book publication or a commercial film presentation -the answers to these problems are evident. However as soon as the object is transferred into the digital sphere a range of contradictions appears, which are caused by the very nature of the digit.

The digital copy is instant, very cheap and identical to the original. It looks like the development of mechanisms to restrict the userabilities for copying is a serious infringement of their personal rights. A work once out of the hands of its author in the digital form, can never be controlled. The wars led by organizations-intermediaries holders of copyrights or the works themselves are just petty fights for preserving their recently unstable position win the view of almost imminent future defeat.

A work recorded in the digital form is preserved forever - that’s why the situation of content overproduction already exists on the market (content turned into pure information is no longer unique) - when there’s no sense in paying for the use of one work if another can be used free of charge. And because of the growing commercial recognition of the concept of providing content free along with services requiring payment, the artist also has to give his work for free to gain a chance of being heard. Who will pay for their artworks or their copy in the world of free commercial content?

They have to find other ways of gaining profit (by personal communication with viewers, lecturing, live concerts - Esther Dyson’s concept).

Does the existing concept of copyright promote the development of culture and arts in accordance with their original idea?

Will copyright finally lose its value?

What should be the attitude towards the shift of value from contents to “package’ - the positioning and presenting processes, PR?

What can be the sources of profit when copyright is destroyed?

How can content be used if profit can’t be gained by copying it?

What will happen to intermediary organizations., such as publishers, suppliers, copyright holders, archives proprietors, etc… when copyright loses its value completely?

 

All these and other questions will be discussed art the round table. Everyone’s invited!

 

Olga Goryunova.

 

 

Terminology.

The forms of intellectual property protection are: copyright, patent and trademark.

Copyright usually protects art, theoretical and literary works, products of creative and scientific activity. Protecting one’s work by copyright doesn’t require obtaining a license or going through registration procedures.

Copyright protects both non-property (right of authorship, title, author’s reputation protection, recall, etc.) and property (reproduction, distribution, import, conversion) rights of the author. It is usually the property rights that are infringed. Non-property rights are retained by the author even when exclusive exploitation rights are transferred to another person.

Copyleft - a term used in the situation when non-property rights are supported while ignoring property rights.

Patent - the system for innovations’ protection: technologies as solutions for specific problems, software products, etc. A patent is a license, received from a special organization after an examination procedure. The patent functions radically: a patent device may be used only with the author’s permission.

Open source - a notion evolved in February 1998, requiring that software products meet a set of conditions: access to source code, free distribution, non-discrimination towards individuals or groups (distribution and project participation), distribution in the form of author code plus patches, distribution of derivative works under the same conditions, etc.

Trademark - a sign, indicating the product’s belonging to a certain enterprise. In most countries requires registration procedures.

 

LAWS:

The first “Patent Act” was passed in Venice in 1774.

In 1623 in Britain the “Statute of Monopolies ” was passed (a permission to monopolistic usage of an innovation’s profits for a 14 years period), in 1710 - “ Statute of Anne ” - a copyright law giving “exclusive right of publication of the work for 14 years from the moment of its creation with a possibility to renew this term for another 14 years in the author’s lifetime”.

The concept of intellectual property has first evolved in France (The Patent Law of 1791).

During the second half of the eighteenth century the copyright laws protecting “the most sacred kind of property” were enacted in the USA, Denmark, Prussia and other countries.

 

International Agreements:

The Berne Convention of 1887 on protection for literary and art works (14 members), the 1952 Geneva Convention (Universal Copyright Convention) - both revised in 1971 in Paris and still in force, Russia being a party to these agreements in the Paris wording.

 

Article VIII of the Russian-American trade agreement (June 1990)

Binds Russia to bring the national intellectual property laws in accordance with European and USA standards.

Article 44 of the Russian Federation Constitution guaranties freedom of creative activity and provides intellectual property protection by law.

138 article of the Civic Code “In cases and in order established by present Code and other laws the exclusive right (of intellectual property) of a citizen or juridical person to intellectual activity result and equated means of a juridical person individualisation (company name, trade mark, service mark, etc) is recognised.

 

1992 - Russian Federal law "Relating to legal protection of electronic computer software and databases”.

1993 - Russian Federal law “ Copyright and related rights”.

Article 9: "copyright for the works of science, literature and arts takes effect by virtue of the fact of their creation. Copyright taking effect and realization do not require a registration of the work or other special legal procedures and observance of formalities.

Article 4: a reproduction of a work into an electronic computer memory “is also considered a reproduction”.

 

The complete list of Russian and international law acts: http://www.copyright.ru/law/index.html#different or http://www.copyrighter.ru/full/index.html?apisp.htm

URLS and LINKS:

1. Keyword search at www.computerra.ru, www.nettime.org

2. www.opensource.org, www.gnu.org, www.fsf.org

3. www.copyright.ru, www.copyrighter.ru

4. www.wipo.org, www.patents.com, www.intelproplaw.com


    © 2001 MediaArtLab; design - @division

  
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