When the ‘so, what did you get up to this weekend’ question
comes up over that Monday morning cup of tea, my answer will have to be, ‘well,
on Friday night I went to a talk about copyright’. This will invariably lead to
my colleagues’’ eyes glazing over and a change in subject. But when the keynote
speaker is sci-fi writer, digital rights advocate and co-founder of Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow the idea of going
to a talk about copyright becomes a whole different kind of night.
I am no expert in copyright or digital content but I do know
that as technology changes providers of information need to stay abreast of
what is and isn’t happening and how it impacts our users. Issues around the provision of content in the
digital age are ever changing and many decisions go on behind closed doors. The
thrust of Cory’s talk was that third parties (governments along with big
business) are trying to control both the rights of content creators and consumers.
And that the creators and consumers will, in the end, not come out on top. These
third party intermediaries are trying to control what we can do with content
(books, music, films) through digital locks and legislation under the guise of
protecting the rights of the creator, but the end result is space where artists
have no say in how their products are produced, distributed and consumed. The
message is this; anytime someone locks up something you own and does not give
you the key, you will always lose out. But Cory tells this dystopian story with
much more skill that I can. Luckily there is a recording
of the talk (90 minutes) that is worth a listen.
-Amy Barker
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