Notes on copyright and copyleft

by Wu Ming, translated by Jason Di Rosso

1.The two horns of the false dilemma

We’ll start at the end: copyleft is founded on a need to link two primary needs; we might say two irrefutable conditions of civil co-habitation. If we stop struggling to satisfy these needs, we stop hoping the world will get better.

There's no doubt that culture and knowledge must circulate as freely as possible and access to ideas must be straightforward, equitable and free from discrimination on the grounds of class, censorship or nationality etc. Intellectual works are not just products of the intellect, they must in turn produce intellect, disseminate ideas and concepts, fertilize minds, in order that new thoughts and fantasies may sprout forth. This is the first cornerstone.

The second is that work must be remunerated; this includes the efforts of artists and narrators. Whoever can make art or narration their profession has the right to make a living out of it in a way that doesn't infringe on their own dignity. Obviously, we're talking about the best case scenario here.

It's a conservative attitude to think that these two needs are like two horns of an irreconcilable dilemma. "There's barely enough to go around" say the defenders of copyright as we've known it. Freedom to copy for them means only 'piracy', 'theft', 'plagiarism' - and you can forget about the author's remuneration. The more the work circulates for free, the fewer copies you sell, the more money the author loses. A bizarre syllogism if you examine it closely.
The most logical progression should be: the work circulates for free, its appreciation translates into word of mouth, the author's reputation and profile benefit as a result, and therefore their influence in the cultural industry (and not just there) grows. It's a beneficial cycle.
A well respected author is increasingly called on to make presentations (expenses reimbursed) and to attend conferences (paid); they are interviewed by the media (unpaid but it furthers the cause); academic postings are offered (paid); consultancies (paid), creative writing courses (paid); the author has the possibility to dictate more advantageous conditions to their publisher. How can all this harm book sales?
Let's talk about the musician/composer. The music circulates for free, people like it, it grabs their attention; whoever wrote or performed it has their profile raised, and if they know how to exploit it they're called upon to perform more frequently and in more places (paid), they have the opportunity to meet more people and therefore more supporters, if they 'develop a name' they are offered film soundtracks (paid), gigs as DJs (paid), sound design jobs for events, parties, art shows, fashion shows - they can even find themselves directing (paid) a festival, or an annual exhibition and so on. If we look at pop artists, we can add the income from merchandising like t-shirts sold on-line or at concerts etc.
And so the 'dilemma' is resolved: the needs of the consumers have been respected (they've had access to a work), as have those of the authors/composers (with financial and career benefits) and the cultural industry (editors, promoters, institutions etc.)

Solve et Coagula writes:

"American Resistance, The Time Has Arrived"

Ted Lang

The time has arrived – a designation must be assigned to the increasing number of Americans who are fed up and terrified by the unbelievable and staggering criminal acts perpetrated both domestically and internationally by the Bush gang. Bush and his GOP are targeting and immediately attacking any and all inspirations of accurate journalistic reporting of administration wrongdoing, proving all the more how despotic American government has become.

Only days ago, the Washington Post broke the story of secret prisons abroad, and what was the reaction on Capitol Hill? Republican Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist, was angered not by the illegal activity and the disgrace it brings upon America, but offered instead: "My concern is with leaks of information that jeopardize your safety and security – period. That is a legitimate concern." If this isn’t a clear case of a simpleton shooting the messenger, I don’t know what is!

Woodward Joins a Decadent Dance

Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times

Whatever impact the scandal surrounding the leak of former CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity ultimately has on the Bush administration, it continues to spread through the Washington press corps like a toxic plume.

As it does, it discredits not only individual reporters and damages their news organizations but also an entire style of reporting that has come to dominate the way Americans are informed — or misinformed — concerning their government's conduct.

This week's casualty was the Washington Post's Bob Woodward, who, as it turns out, has concealed for 17 months the fact that a Bush administration official he still refuses to name to his readers leaked Plame's identity to him before the vice president's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby — now under indictment for perjury — named the then-covert agent to New York Times reporter Judy Miller and others.

Hoipolloi Cassidy writes:

"Paris, Texas"

Hoipolloi Cassidy

In France all courts are kangaroo, at least potentially. As a rule the system works as well as any other: you're presumed to be guilty until proven innocent, but there are levels of presumption and therefore levels of proof throughout the whole process, from Jean-Pierre who witnesses and interferes to the gendarme who determines and passes you on to inspector Maigret, concerned to get the whole picture, to the investigating magistrate, the courts, the judge, the jury. As a rule there's a some kind of checks and balances, and as usual in France they're more a question of connections and individualism than a strict enforcement of rules. But the system goes wrong when these levels are by-passed: when legal professionals work against the community, not within it; when the inner circles and the political cliques take over; when ruling-class paranoia takes control. And the system's gone wrong in the suburbs of Paris.