Fwd: Submission for the Irish Copyright Review
Kevin Flanagan
Ok here is a copy of my submission for the Copyright review
unfortunately Im up the walls with a new job so its a bit rushed if
anyone else sent stuff in please share it. I have also been notified
by Alan Toner from https://knowfuture.wordpress.com that there is a
separate review on third party liability that is in response to the
UPC case the deadline for that is the 29th of July. Anywhos better get
something in for that too.
All the Best
Kevin
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kevin Flanagan <kev.fl...@gmail.com>
Date: 14 July 2011 15:29
Subject: Submission for the Irish Copyright Review
To: copyrig...@deti.ie
14th July 2011
For the attention of the Irish Copyright Review Group.
My name is Kevin Flanagan I am and artist and a part of Saor Cultur
Eire a loosely knit network of Irish artists and technologists
concerned over current trends in copyright legislation both nationally
and internationally. I have started a new job recently, unfortunately
this has meant that I have not had the time to give my full attention
to writing this submission for the review and as such I will have to
keep short.
Copyright is an exclusive monopoly granted by government for a limited
time to enable creative people, artists, musicians and writers etc to
earn fair remuneration for their labour.
The ability to fully exploit the fruits of ones labour in order to
earn a decent wage and to sustain a creative practice is naturally
desirable. This the most common understanding or logic for the
existence of copyright seems reasonable to most people. However
copyright law is more complex.
The digital age and the Internet has brought about a massive
transformation in the way culture is produced and shared. Key to this
transformation is the low cost of access to computers with multimedia
tools and the ease at which people can publish creative works online
to a potentially global audience. Prior to the digital revolution such
feats were a capital intensive affair and could only be achieved with
economies of scale afforded by large media organisations. The Internet
poses a radical challenge to these older business models and disrupts
the cultural dominance they once enjoyed. Their response has been a
massive investment in lobbying governments world wide for enhanced
copyright protectionism. Protections such as 3 strikes are detrimental
to the public good and personal privacy.
It is an extremely worrying state of affairs when cloaked in the
seemingly noble almost romantic pursuit of protections for artists the
so called creative industries lobby governments and corporations
(Google) to censor without due process digital content in particular
remix culture they say infringes their copyright. Freedom of
expression is the guarantee of a free society. In such a society
censorship cannot be tolerated. Under today's circumstances copyright
law functions as a tool for just that.
Remix the culture of sampling audio visual content whether for the
purpose of creating abstract works or for parody is a contemporary
cultural form that is under constant attack. It is in fact being
actively written out of our shared cultural history.
The Hitler Downfall videos are one such example of an Internet meme
that having gained popular momentum took on a life and meaning of its
own. The scene from the movie "Downfall" where Hitler looses his
temper has been remixed hundreds if not thousands of times and each
time the subtitles are changed to tell a different story.
Yet almost as soon as a new remix is online it is the target of a take
down notice upon the request of the often self appointed copyright
police effectively censoring any alternative encounter that departs
from that of the sacrosanct original.
While this form of creative expression might seem unique to our times
it is worth noting that no artist has ever existed in a vacuum. The
culture of the present is always built on and inspired by the culture
of the past. The culture of our future is rooted in our present.
Remixes are rarely created with commercial interest in mind. People
usually make them for fun, or to make a point or often times just
because they can. Like all culture some of its good and some of its
bad. Nevertheless it is an important part of how people express
themselves in the modern world and it should be respected as such.
The difficulty arises when the likes of Google or Youtube put
clickable adds beside remixed videos turning the free labour of user
generated content into a source of private revenue. It is to be
expected that copyright holders should be troubled by this and want
their piece of the pie and if they cannot get the pie they will
instead use legal means aka copyright to limit Youtube's ability to
exploit the work. So who suffers here? It is of course the remix
artists whose works are taken off-line. We too are at a loss as the
diversity our shared cultural domain and history is diminished as the
result of what is essentially a commercial dispute.
Big media should stop attacking fans and instead focus their efforts
on promoting the merits of their product on the market rather than on
seeking government protections and extensions of their power to
monopolise and censor culture.
As a member of Saor Cultur I support the introduction of Fair Use in
Ireland. The pros of digital technology out weigh the cons. The proof
is in the pudding. The majority of the population now have greater
access to quality information and educational resources than at any
other time in our history. The ability of educators to exploit these
knowledge resource to their fullest should be supported and encouraged
by the state.
Protections for the works of artists who remix existing culture for
the purpose of cultural commentary, parody or in order to create new
works that make a distinct departure from the source material should
be included. This is an important part of the diversity of our
cultural life and it needs to be respected as such.
Any review of Irish copyright law that looks at implementing Fair Use
should look beyond the obvious benefits of digital innovation and give
equal consideration to the benefits Fair Use would bring to the
general public by enriching Irish education and culture.
I find it hard to believe that the issue of filesharing is absent from
the review groups agenda.
For the record Saor Cultur oppose the introduction of 3 Strikes in
Ireland by the state and particularly by private arrangements between
companies. 3 Strikes the policy of monitoring users online activities
and cutting them off the Internet for file-sharing represents an
attack on personal privacy and on our rights to communicate. Internet
access is essential for modern life, for communications with family
and friends, for work, for learning, for keeping informed, for dealing
with government and for doing business. 3 Strikes is an over the top
and excessive response to non-commercial Internet file-sharing. We
support and wish to bring to the reviews attention the recent findings
of the United Nations report that declares Internet access an
essential human right.
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/17session/A.HRC.17.27_en.pdf
I would like the Irish Government to ensure our freedom of expression
and our rights to private and secure communications by banning ISP's
from implementing any kind of filtering, monitoring, web blocking or
censorship.
Thank You
Kevin Flanagan
Saor Cultur Eire
7 Lios Na Crí,
Oranmore,
Co Galway