Does digital file sharing render copyright obsolete?

Iria · Jun 3, 2007, 07:49 PM

Source: IHT
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BRUSSELS: When the 1980s pop star Robin Gibb writes a song these days, he says he doesn't think about whether it is copyrighted or licensed - he devotes himself to his art and lets his handlers see to its legal and financial well-being.

But when NoobishPineapple, an 18-year-old from Spearfish, South Dakota, uploads his 36-second rap video about fast food onto YouTube, he has no staff of assistants to make sure his creation is protected or paid for - and he probably doesn't care, anyway.

That makes people like David Ferguson, head of the British Academy of Composers and Authors, nervous about how art will be sustained in the future. And it is giving people like Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons, an opening to promote alternatives to the world's increasingly maligned copyright systems.

Jun 3, 2007, 07:49 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Does digital file sharing render copyright obsolete? Source: IHT _________ BRUSSELS: When the 1980s pop star Robin Gibb writes a song these days, he says he doesn't think about whether it is copyrighted or licensed - he devotes himself to his art and lets his handlers see to its legal and financial well-being. But when NoobishPineapple, an 18-year-old from Spearfish, South Dakota, uploads his 36-second rap video about fast food onto YouTube, he has no staff of assistants to make sure his creation is protected or paid for - and he probably doesn't care, anyway. That makes people like David Ferguson, head of the British Academy of Composers and Authors, nervous about how art will be sustained in the future. And it is giving people like Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons, an opening to promote alternatives to the world's increasingly maligned copyright systems.