Throughout the document:
common law = anglo-american countries
civil law traditoin = European continent

All lists are verbatim quotes.

Copyright concerning film: page 28.

9
Copyright

• Central role in culture and communication
• Intrinsically linked to technological advances
• Challenged by rampant piracy in many countries

10
The Essences of Copyright

• Right of ownership in creative works
• Protection against unauthorized uses
• Limitations for the benefit of society at large

11
The Rationale behind Copyright

• Exclusive rights as economic reward and stimulus for creativity
• Natural/personal right in the results of intellectual work
• Distinction between Anglo-American (common Law) and Continental (civil law) tradition

12
The Origins of Copyright

• From the earliest days some forms of protection -> in ancient Greece it was a dishonour to copy
• 15th-century Europe: Invention of the printing press
• Printing privileges precursors of modern copyright laws

The First Copyright Laws

• 1710: Statute of Queen Anne (England)
• 1791 and 1793: Revolutionary decrees (France) -> introduction of public domain
• By the mid-19th century: followed by many countries

13
The Modern Copyright System

• Marked by the conclusion of international agreements
• Cross-border trade and technological advances as motor
• Information society requires further global co-operation

16
The Scope of Copyright Protection

• Copyright protects ‘works of a literary, scientific or artistic nature’
• Works must be original and more than mere ideas
• Trend towards extension of scope in recent years

17
The Idea-Expression Dichotomy

• Copyright requires an expression in a particular form
• No protection of underlying ideas, mere information or style
• Usually non-exhaustive list of examples provided by copyright laws

-> Ideas can be copied freelly, “the form in which the ideas are expressed” (page 16) cannot.

18
The Originality Criteria in Copyright Law

• Central requirement of originality to be interpreted by courts
• Form, purpose, quality, novelty, artistic merit or commercial value not relevant
• Derivative works protected like original works

19
Absence of Formalities in Copyright Law

• Absence of formalities enshrined in international conventions
• © symbol introduced by the Universal Copyright Convention (1952)
• Voluntary registration may serve as prima facie evidence

Fixation Requirement in Copyright

• Fixation ≠ registration; necessity depends on national legislation
• Concerns ephemeral or improvised works (e.g. music, speeches, choreographies)
• Decisive for the starting point of protection

-> common law: work must be fixed by any tangible, material means
-> civil law: copyright takes effect from the very moment it is created

20
The Protection of Computer Programs

• Includes applications and operating systems alike
• Applies to both source code and object code
• Form of embodiment (stored/written) irreleva[nt]

21
Protection of Databases

• ‘Original’ databases: protected as compilation by reason of structure
• Sui generis protection of contents of non-original databases

-> the database structure is protected everywhere, the content not necessarily

Traditional Cultural Expressions and Folklore

• Form part of the culture from which they originate
• Impersonal/collective nature at odds with individual property rights
• New forms of protection explored by UNESCO or others

24
Copyright Ownership

• Initial ownership generally vested in authors
• Certain exceptions in particular cases
• Copyright transferable after death or by contracts

Who is the ‘Author’?

• Primarily the natural person who created the work
• Common law: third parties may be deemed authors (ex: corporate bodies, legal entities)
• Civil law tradition: no author apart from the creator

25
Works made for hire

• Works produced in the course of employment
• Common law: copyright initially vested in employer instead of employee
• Civil law: employer can acquire copyright via contract

Copyright in Anonymous and Pseudonymous Works

• Legal presumption in favour of publishers
• Valid until the author reveals his or her identity

“the publisher is not the real owner of copyright but is only entitled to protect and enforce the author’s rights”

27

Works Created by Several Persons

28
Rights Ownership in Cinematographic Works

• Civil laws approach: films as joint or composite works, several right owners
• Common law approach: producer typically sole copyright owner

30
Concerns the author’s non-financial interests

• Recognized in most countries in different ways
• Recognition required by international law

The Most Important Moral Rights

• Right of attribution (authorship)
• Right of integrity
• Right of disclosure
• Right of withdrawal

31
Development of International Recognition

• Originally characteristic of civil law systems
• Art. 6bis Berne Convention / 1996 WIPO Treaties
• Implementation outside copyright possible -> tort or contract law for example

32
Basic Features of Moral Rights

• Exist independently from economic rights
• Generally not assignable -> cannot be transferred to someone else
• Last at least as long as economic rights

33
The Right of Attribution

• Right to claim authorship in a work
• ≠ Right against wrongful attribution -> part of personality rights

34
The Right of Integrity -> ‘The Right to Respect’

• Right to prevent derogatory use of the work
• Takes into account both content and context
• Exercise often subject to balance of interests

The Right of Disclosure

• Relates to making the work publicly known
• Work may not be divulged despite contract
• Requires divulgation beyond the private circle

35
The Right to Withdraw

• The author may withdraw the work after a change of ideas
• Subject to conditions to protect third parties

38
Economic Rights

• Exclusive rights and remuneration rights
• Usually a bundle of prerogatives corresponding to different uses
• Minimum standards guaranteed by international treaties

39
Most Important Economic Rights

• Right of Reproduction
• Right of Distribution
• Rental and Lending Rights
• Rights of Communication to the Public (incl. Right of Making Available)
• Droit de suite (Resale Right)
• Adaptation Right (incl. Translation)

The Right of Reproduction

• Right to authorize the making of copies
• Covers all methods known or yet to be discovered
• Includes storage in digital form (except transient acts -> caching, temp files)

40
The Right of Distribution

• Right to disseminate physical copies
• Subject to national, regional or world-wide exhaustion

41
Rental and Lending Rights

• Address successive uses by multiple users
• Rental: exclusive right
• Lending: entitles authors to an equitable remuneration

42
The Rights of Communication to the Public

• Right of public presentation and performance (incl. small rights -> background music in bars and shops)
• Broadcasting right
• Rights of remote transmission by other means

The Right of Making Available

• Aims at access from a place and at a time individually chosen
• Technology-neutral and future-proof

-> introduced with the Internet, but covers all future technologies

43
The Resale Right (Droit de suite)

• Entitles visual artists to a share in the resale price of their works
• Remuneration right rather than exclusive

The Adaptation Right

• Exclusive right to authorize ‘derivative works’ (incl. translation)
• Adaptation distinct from free use of ideas as source of inspiration
• Author of adaptation has own copyright in the derivative work

45
Limitations to Copyright Protection

• Protection expires after a limited time
• Exceptions for certain legitimate uses
• Non-voluntary licences

46
Term of Protection

• According to international law: at least 50 years after the death of the author
• In some countries no time limit for moral rights

47
General Rules on Exceptions

• Basically four categories of legitimate interests
• Concept and rules vary from one country to another
• Strictly defined exceptions vs. wider concepts
• Three-step test

48
Freedom of expression

• Secured through free flow of information
• Of particular importance: right to quote

49
Access to Knowledge

• Exceptions in favour of educational institutions
• Usually valid only for non-profit uses
• Specific clauses for the benefit of handicapped persons

Justice and Government

• Official texts often excluded from protection
• Free use of protected material in courts

50
Private Copying

• Permitted in a number of countries
• Usually framed by levy-based remuneration -> on the copying devices and bland media

[L]imitations in the Digital Environment

• Right owners concern over enhanced quality of digital copies
• TPM and application of limitations
• Application subject to domestic law and courts

53
Transfer of Rights

• Contractual transfer inter vivos (during the author’s lifetime)
• Transfer mortis causa (after the author’s death)

54
Contractual Transfer of Rights

• Concerns only economic rights; moral rights inalienable
• Transfer of rights independent of ownership of the physical material
• Two principal ways for rights transfer: assignment or licensing
• Each right may be transferred or licensed separately

55
Transfer of Rights by Assignment

• Assignee becomes owner of the rights
• Total or partial assignment possible
• Typical of common law tradition

56
The Licensing of Rights

• Right owner maintains ownership
• Permission for a specific use
• Simple licences vs. exclusive licences -> “For the period for which it is granted, exclusive license has an effect comparable to a transfer of rights by assignment” (page 55)

57
Limitations on Transfer of Rights

• Protection of the author as typically weaker party
• Rules concerning scope of transfer
• Rules concerning proportionate remuneration

Formal Requirements

• Usually written form of contract
• Legal presumptions in some cases

58
Transfer of Rights After Death

• Economic rights: freely transferable
• Moral rights: several models in different countries

60
Related Rights

• Protect the results of certain activities mainly related to the dissemination of works

The Most Important Related Rights

• Performers’ rights
• Phonogram producers’ rights
• Broadcasters’ rights

61
The Development of International Related Rights Protection

• The Rome Convention of 1961
• The TRIPs Agreement of 1994
• The 1996 WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty

62
The Characteristics of Related Rights

• Covering a variety of heterogeneous subject matter
• Terminology reflects personality-centred author’s rights approach
• Protection similar to copyright albeit more limited

63
Protection of Performers’ Rights

• ‘Performer’: usually one who performs works or expressions of folklore
• Rights of reproduction, distribution, rental and making available
• Moral rights of identification and integrity
• Minimum term of protection 50 years under the WPPT

64
Protection of Phonogram Producers

• ‘Phonogram’: Fixation of sounds of any kind on any medium
• Rights of reproduction, rental, distribution and making available
• Minimum term of protection: 50 years

Protection of Broadcasters’ Rights

• ‘Broadcast’: transmission of any sound or images by wireless means -> but often also cable
• Rights of re-broadcasting, reproduction and communication to the public.
• Minimum term of protection 20 years
• Ongoing discussion on updating protection within WIPO

67
Enforcement of Rights

• Civil Remedies
• Penal and Administrative Sanctions
• Technological Protection Measures
• Provisional and Border Measures

68
Forms of Rights Infringement

• Infringement of Economic Rights
• Infringement of Moral Rights

69
Civil Remedies

• Injunction and seizure of infringing objects (no bad faith required)
• Damages
• Monetary compensation for moral suffering (in some countries)

Penal Sanctions

• Fines and imprisonment depending on the severity of the act
• Usually intentional infringement required
• Significantly enhanced due to compliance with international law

70
Technological Protection Measures

• Encryption tools and ‘Digital Rights Information’
• Legal protection against circumvention in compliance with international law

71
Challenges of enforcement in the digital environment

• Online copyright piracy (illegal up and downloading)
• Specific measures to tackle online infringements discussed (“Graduated response” (-> three strikes rule) v. “Global license” (-> ISP collects and distributes royalties)
• Development of legal online offer of cultural products

73
Collective Management of Rights

• Takes place where individual licences are impractical
• Collective bodies act on behalf of individual right owners
• Additional cultural and social activities -> of those collective bodies

74
The Origins of Collective Rights Management

• France of 18-19th Century: Beaumarchais and others
• 1777: Foundation of SACD
• 1851: Foundation of SACEM

75
The most important rights administered collectively

• Performing rights in non-dramatic musical works (‘small rights’) -> grand rights = performance of all dramatico-musical crations: opera, ballet
• Rights of reproduction on sound recordings (‘mechanical rights’)
• Rights of satellite transmission and cable re-transmission
• Remuneration rights (e.g. reprographic reproduction)

76

Forms of Collrctive Management

77
Variety of Collective Rights Management

• Legal status: private vs public bodies
• Number of organizations: monopoly vs multitude
• Membership: optional vs mandatory

78
International Collective Rights Management

• Reciprocal representation agreements
• International umbrella organizations (e.g. CISAC, BIEM)

The Advantages of Collective Rights Management

• Facilitates licensing in case of individually uncontrollable uses
• Viable alternative to non-voluntary licences
• Increases individual author’s bargaining power

79
Challenges for Collective Rights Management

• Digital technology may entail new forms of management
• Globalization trends call into question traditional territorial basis

81
International Protection of Copyright and Related Rights

• Rule of territoriality -> copyright law only applies inside the country
• Harmonization of national laws through international treaties
• Today, system of widely accepted multilateral conventions

82
The Most Important International Conventions

• The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886 (last revised in 1971)
• The Universal Copyright Convention of 1952 (last revised in 1971)
• The Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms, and Broadcasting Organizations of 1961
• The TRIPs Agreement of 1994
• The WIPO Copyright Treaty of 1996
• The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty of 1996

83
The Origins of Today’s Multilateral Conventions

• 1878 Literary Congress in Paris, chaired by Victor Hugo
• Foundation of the ALAI and 1882 Congress in Rome
• 1886: Berne Convention signed

84
International Treaties on Copyright and Related Rights

• Obligations on contracting states to adapt domestic laws -> We protect your work in our country the same way we protect our own work
• Principle of national treatment
• Guaranteeing of minimum standards

85
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886)

• Several revisions, last revised in 1971 (Paris Act)
• Creation of the Union for the Protection of the Rights of Authors over their Literary and Artistic Works, administered by WIPO
• Referred to in later treaties (e.g. TRIPs and 1996 WIPO Treaties)
• Minimum standards concerning economic and moral rights, exceptions/limitations and terms of protection

86
The Universal Copyright Convention (1952)

• Revised in 1971 (Paris Act)
• Intended to serve as a ’bridge’ toward the Berne Union

87
The Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms, and Broadcasting Organizations (1961)

• Jointly administered by WIPO, UNESCO and ILO
• First international instrument to address neighbouring rights

88
The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (1994) -> TRIPs

• Links Intellectual Property with trade issues within the World Trade Organization
• “Berne / Rome plus” standard of protection (without moral rights)
• Specific obligations on states to introduce effective enforcement procedures

89
The WIPO Copyright Treaty The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (1996)

• Designed to address new technologies and means of communication
• Introduction of new ‘right of making available to the public’
• Obligation to prohibit circumvention of technical protection measures
• Moral rights for performers

Gives details about her income from Sita Sings the Blues. She is convinced she’s making more money using Creative Commons than if she had restricted Copyright.

She paid USD50,000 for the music rights. And she has nearly recuperated these costs.

13
“The question is then: how is such ‘creative destruction’ occurring in media industries, if at all?”
“In spite of the success of a few media enterprises, creative industries in China are fragile when compared with the corporate structures and production relations of Hollywood. In developed economies the mass media are dominated by highly concentrated forms of organization.”
“In China, the options for development of audiovisual industries are still uncertain and subject to vagaries in national media policy. Media organizations may expand provincially; they may aspire to horizontal integration; but the bottom line is likely to remain a lack of capital, which forces them to seek out low-cost ways of competing in a crowded media industry.”

14
“In television industries for instance financial returns on program development and production are extended across, and within new territories. In cinema co-productions and runaway productions are a means of ensuring cost savings.”

15
“Globalization by franchising provides a very different model of development, one that is flexible, post-Fordist, and subject to user innovation.”
“Within the context of globalization, [...] there are four levels of economic activity: economic specialization, de-territorialized production (production of goods in lowest cost locations), partially traded or non-traded services, and routine manufacturing and services.”

economic specialization

“These blockbusters and global brand services are often incubated in ‘export-oriented, specialized industrial clusters’. Hollywood and Silicon Valley, which are result of institutionally embedded know-how, produce continuous learning and innovation. The output of these centres targets world markets.”

de-territorialized production

16
“Outsourced productions in cinema are the most noteworthy example of how international producers seek to minimize costs.”

partially tradable or non-tradable services

“The internationalized services as such need to partner up with local knowledge, in turn creating mutual benefits and cultural technology transfer.”

routine manufacturing and services

“it is possible to make products and services at any location in the globe.”

16f
“The demand for innovation drives the imperative to constantly examine the international market for opportunities.”

17
“This leads back to the conundrum of creativity: how do developing countries compete? If it is easier to compete in the cultural economy by making local versions of global products—or by acting as a low-cost location for footloose multinationals—then the specificity of culture is ultimately eroded. On the other hand, a focus on the national can have the effect of marginalizing the cultural product and ensuring that it fits only into a niche culture market, as illustrated by national cinema and world music. The dilemma for producers, moreover, is making a leap into high-value markets: independents located in developing countries do not have the resources to incubate, produce, and market so as to produce ‘winner-takes-all’ branded products and services. In many instances, new artists are discovered in the margins and expediency drives them or their agents into to the arms of international financiers, often handing over the valuable IP rents in the process.”
“Over-bureaucratization is endemic to the cultural sector and works against implementation of long-term business models.”

17f
“These factors, in combination with existing conventions within the marketplace, notably a propensity to rely on relationships make it difficult for cultural enterprises to generate start-up capital. Product innovation is therefore more likely to be incremental and imitation is favoured over innovation. The focus on imitation has led to the success of Japanese and Korean creative industries. Whereas these countries have managed to move to the next stage (innovation), China remains locked into a cycle of dependency.”
“The principal financiers of the Chinese film industry are government: direct support for approved films as well as indirect support for co-productions via tax breaks and reductions of expensive red tape; foreign investors: particular in co-productions and joint-venture arrangements; major business enterprises: through revenue-sharing arrangements and product endorsements in film; advertising companies: often through brokering of services such as post-production; and state-owned enterprises: many of these such as the People’s Liberation Army, are in fact highly profitable enterprises with interests in communications.”
“In 2003 80 percent of revenue from box office receipts came from the 20 imported blockbusters (Hua 2004). According to official statistics copyright earnings on imported films were 10 times more than those received from domestic productions.”

18f
“The politicization of film content, erratic censorship regimes, and the necessity of managing scripts to appease officials, impacts on production investment in two ways. First, it discourages domestic investors who are unwilling to sink their capital into scripts that are politically doctored; and second, it opens up a private investment market for the more adventurous producers. Since 1997 the partial privatization of China’s leading film studios (Beijing Forbidden City Film Corporation, Xian Film Corporation, Ermei Film Corporation, and Shanghai Film Corporation) has stimulated private investment and co-productions. Most of the capital investment has come from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. While the majority of films in 2003 were still produced by the state-funded studios, there was a significant increase in the number of films (Ibid, 32) produced by privately invested companies. Some of the more notable independent production and investment houses are Beijing New Vista, Huayi Brothers and Taihe Film Investment Company, and Century Hero Audio-visual Investment Company (Yin 2004).”

19
“The success of China’s film industry and the capacity to create exportable content is contingent on unleashing creativity as much as stimulating finance.”
“Tarantino has undoubtedly been impressed by the willingness of the Chinese to work enthusiastically for low salaries in contrast to the spiralling costs in other international locations.”
“With a population of more than 1.3 billion China’s cinema box office revenue is just 25 percent of that of Korea, whose population is 47 million.”
“The success of the Korean new wave has seen film financing models going on-line, allowing ordinary people to buy into the movie-business (Kim 2003). Netizen funds are a way by which (mostly) young Koreans invest in film projects for a return based on the movie’s success after release.”

19f
“International connections are important in order to break out of the cycle of dependency on state funding. In 2003 more than half of the 140 feature films made in China received substantial investment from government but less than half the number of films legitimately screened in Chinese cinemas in 2003 were profitable, and as mentioned above, the heavy grossing films were international ‘blockbusters’.”

20
“the average cost of production was only rmb 3 million (USD362,000), or 0.5 percent of the average cost of production in the U.S.”
“Cellphone received investment finance from a number of sources with major contributions coming from Motorola, China Mobile, BMW, and Mtone (a Chinese internet content provider). Motorola invested rmb 4 million (USD484,000), China Mobile rmb 800,000 (USD97,000), while BMW contributed rmb 1.2 million (USD145,000). Sponsors received product placement and visible recognition in the film promotional messages. For instance, the protagonist of the film—a successful TV talk host who inadvertently left a message from a lover on his new Motorola cellphone—also drives a BMW. In addition, Motorola and BMW’s logo were displayed prominently on advertising billboards. Music copyright delivered a further rmb 8 million (US$968,000) (Meng 2004). In addition to securing financial support, the production company (Huayi Brothers and Taihe Film Investment Company), which is incidentally the advertising agent for China Mobile, sought to ensure returns on investment by working with a Guangdong-based DVD maker to produce cheaper legitimate versions in efforts to limit piracy (Shanghai Daily Jan 21, 2004).”
“Television is an industry that employs an army of people in China. The flow of investment is more dynamic than cinema as the market is shaped by domestic consumption and broadly supported by advertising.”
“Television stations are still technically owned by the state but they are now allowed to apply for licenses to operate as corporate entities responsible for their profits and losses.”

21
“This is not straightforward philanthropy, however, but investment based on guanxi (reciprocal) relationships.”
“In China cable television is ubiquitous but the business model remains low value because subscription to the 30 or so channels is under priced.”
“the mass audience for television – some 900 million — is shared among some several hundred stations. The bulk of income for television stations, and for producers, now comes from advertising.”

23
“Digital content industries provide new challenges for investment in the creative industries.”
“Chinese government is investing heavily in video games production in Shanghai and an animation centre in Beijing. These are joint public-private ventures that draw upon government largesse towards new industry/new economy development in the wake of Korea and Japan’s video games exports. The government recognizes that digital content industries are growth industries and that they have global impact; that is, products and applications developed in China can be marketed globally, in comparison to television and film, which is hampered by being nationally specific. In addition, digital content is invariably produced with the intent of repurposing in multiple platforms: cable, free-to-air, Internet, mobile phone etc.”
“Until recently oligopoly structures have not existed in China due to the need to control information.”
“Digital media is especially relevant to user-led innovation. There is a need to respond quickly to consumer demand and this gives China an advantage in that it has a large consumer base to test new products and applications.”

24
“while ideas may be generated in developing countries, finance to commercialize still comes primarily from multinational investors.”
“In order to avoid becoming a low cost location for media production (Miller et al 2001), China needs to further develop its own industrial base and to recognize the importance of intellectual property protection in developing local creativity. The synergy between creative enterprise and financial inputs into core creativity, R&D, incubation, and marketing now becomes central to meet the challenge of developing export content.” Not sure about that.
“how do countries move from a low national production base into competitive export markets? The transition encompasses a five-stage process.

1. low-cost outsourcing,
2. isomorphism and cloning practices,
3. legitimate co-productions and franchising agreements,
4. niche markets and regional breakthroughs,
5. cultural/ industrial milieu and local clusters can be produced to target high-value exports.”

“These media capitals (Curtin 2003) bring with them economies of scale and scope, the attraction of foreign investment, the certainty of rights management, and greater network and distribution complementarities.”

25
“Successful exports of Chinese film and television, moreover, are ultimately contingent on institutional reforms within China, which will bring these five growth stages into synergistic alignment in order to generate greater value and industry confidence.”

80
“The hearts and minds of the new generation are set against copyright. The copyright industries are losing the war.”

Philosophises on “The Future of…”

• Open Access
• Academic Book Publishing
• the Peer-Reviewed Journal
• the Author
• Intellectual Property
• Piracy

21
“But ‘where exclusive copyright in a “work for hire” has been transferred by the author to a publisher – i.e., the author has been paid (or will be paid royalties) in exchange for the text’, as is often the case in book publishing – it may well be that the author is not legally allowed to self-archive it. This is because, although the ‘text is still the author’s “intellectual property”, … the exclusive right to sell or give away copies of it has been transferred to the publisher’ (BOAI, 2002-4: non-pag.).” This is just perverse! Like the music industry.

Chapter 8 in Thomas, PN et al ~ Intellectual Property Rights and Communications in Asia

130
“Copyright reform represents a point of convergence between political, social, cultural and economic forces.” see also p147

136
“A failure to recognise economic potential makes it more difficult to manage cultural activities so as to promote capacity building and value creation.” Like the film industry today: they don’t see how to make money without copyright, so they don’t develop ideas how to make money without copyright.
“In short, the political and ideological context in which China’s filmmakers must operate is preventing copyright from playing a larger role in the film industry’s value chain.”

137
“Copyright continues to be separated from the core problems of filmmaking in the minds of many Chinese directors.”

137f
“‘the biggest problem is not piracy but the system of censorship, and the second is that there is not a film market.’”

139
“[...] many studios do in fact choose to sell master copies to pirate distributors. [...] in order to recoup some money from the practice.”

147
“Copyright represents the convergence of several highly sensitive areas: media, law, economics, politics and ideology.”
“However, as the film industry demonstrates, copyright currently plays a relatively minor role in commercial decisions made by film producers. Censorship and distribution irregularities prevent copyright from functioning more prominently within the industry’s business model. Entrenched ditribution monopolies, outdated modes of rights trading and payment and failure to enforce existing laws are all undermining copyright’s role. Pervasive piracy means that distribution on DVD is barely worth considering as a revenue stream.”

Examined strategies for survival without IP:

• TV: advertising (142f), but that has collapsed, hasn’t it?
• Film: product placement + sale of music copyright (145), but is that anything new?

37
IP allowed specific kinds of businesses to flourish.

38f
“As Alford (1995) discusses, China possessed no indigenous equivalent to concepts of “intellectual property”. Notions of individual creativity and ownership of ideas were not easily reconciled with Confucian concepts of creativity, knowledge and learning (Alford, 1995, p. 9). For these and various other reasons, the PRC remained without a copyright law until 1990.”
“The business models that dominated the global recorded music industry in the second half of the twentieth century were based around record labels providing artists with access to recording equipment, mass production and distribution channels, marketing and promotion services, and remunerating them on a royalty basis.
Legally enforceable intellectual property rights and physical technologies that made controlled mass production and distribution of music possible (Bettig, 1996) were key factors in the rise of a handful of highly integrated, transnational music corporations that accounted for 90% of gross sales of recorded music in 1994 (Burnett, 1995, p. 2). Although developments in physical technology, such as cassette tapes and recorders, presented challenges to the industry’s ability to control copying, these changes occurred after markets, industry structures, professional organizations and group collection infrastructures had become established. As a result, the industry was generally able to respond in a systematic way and incremental developments in analogue technologies of copying did little to disrupt its overall structure (Frith, 2002).
In China, on the other hand, technologies for mass reproduction and consumption of recorded music became available in the absence of copyright law, an organized domestic music industry, or clear legitimate channels for the distribution of most foreign content.”

39
“Not only are new technologies being adopted with enormous speed across the country, they are being embraced fastest by groups traditionally considered most likely to pay for music in other markets. Young, educated city-dwellers with relatively high disposable incomes are now the group most likely to have access to broadband connections, cheap MP3 players and next-generation mobile devices.”
“So [record labels] have gone from the frying pan into the fire. They hadn’t even put a dent in pirate physical copies before P2P and MP3 downloading came along.” Kaiser Kuo quoted by Montgomery.

40
“The dominance of a few developed nations in global trades in culture has led many to question the fairness of expanding global intellectual property system. According to UNESCO, developing countries account for less than 1% share of exports of cultural goods.”

41
“While the traditional record label model isn’t exactly going through a golden age in the west, it never even had a golden age in the Middle Kingdom.” originally from The Register ~ Music in China (04.12.2009)
“While major international labels have been unwilling to invest heavily in the promotion of international artists in a market where mass-scale returns are difficult to secure, local artists and labels have been actively working to develop business strategies capable of generating income in spite of very high levels of piracy. One strategy for doing this has been to rely on personal appearances by artists, which cannot be replicated. As a result, there is less emphasis on producing popular albums, and more emphasis on gaining popularity and profile through single hits that lead to lucrative product endorsement and live appearance or performance deals”

42
“In contrast to Western markets, where artist management and music are generally separate, in China assigning a record label with management rights is considered one of the most important aspects of an artist’s contract, forming a vital income source for domestic labels.”
“However, even for Chinese labels, relying on personal appearance and advertising revenue presents practical problems. Personal appearances have limited scalability. Neither advertising nor personal appearance fit well with the “long tail” approach, which, in other markets, allows back-catalogues to continue generating revenue for labels and artists long after the artist has been eclipsed by the latest trend.”
“China’s own capacity to capture commercial opportunities associated with music is increasing as media commercialization becomes more entrenched.”
“It is extremely difficult to make money by licensing copyright in China and gaining access to the market is expensive and difficult, so Western labels have devoted few resources to promoting their products to Chinese audiences.”

43
“In China [...] unauthorized networks for the distribution of physical copies of music are well established, independent monitoring agencies do not exist and users have demonstrated low levels of willingness to pay a premium for “legitimate” content.”

44
“Unlike ring-tones, which are generally stored on individual mobile phones, CRBT [caller ring-back-tones] services are managed centrally, through mobile service providers.”

45
“[Mobile phone] service providers, distributors, labels and music publishers share an initial ‘‘sign-up fee’’ when a subscriber first signs on to a CRBT package. After the initial sign-up fee has been divided between these parties, subsequent full monthly subscription fees are kept solely by China Mobile.”
“[Music] labels are in a position to connect artists with mobile operators, manage advertising deals and to ensure that publishing and performance licences are obtained – all key components of the music business in today’s China.” But very different from the western model of a music label.
“Although there have been some amazing stories of amateur musicians who have produced a hit ring-tone from their bedroom and made millions, commercial spaces are quickly being filled by large, vertically integrated content providers.”

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“In the case of the music industry, it appears that cultural policies that make it harder to publish foreign content, strict regulations governing foreign investment in content industries, and low levels of copyright enforcement have worked together to provide Chinese media businesses with space to develop effectively.”
“the success of new music distribution technologies and a growing capacity to provide local content in forms that satisfy the demands of local consumers, in spite of very high levels of unauthorized copying and distribution of physical media, suggests that copyright has not been the key impediment to the success of international artists and labels in the Chinese market.”
“Rather than falling victim to globally dominant exporters of intellectual property, China’s domestic music industry is successfully developing a market for local content, alongside its own capacity to provide the content and services demanded by Chinese consumers.”
“Unwillingness to adapt to an environment where ownership of intellectual property rights cannot guarantee control over how music is used and distributed, and reluctance to explore alternative approaches to music distribution and licensing have [...] contributed to [the] lack of success [of major international record labels].”
“The apparent association between this distribution bottleneck and the growth of an organized, profitable commercial music industry in China highlights the continuing role of monopoly structures in the commercialization of culture in a digital age.” It’s true but I don’t like that.

storyworld

“Storytelling is going through an evolution. The impact of new technologies combined with an audience that has more control over its media is challenging everything from revenue models to authorship.”

“The way I write has fundamentally changed.”

“The Concept Of Story Architecture: What was once a single-format design for me is changing. I now consider my process akin to architecture, where storytelling, technology, gaming, delivery and experience design work together to serve the stories I wish to tell. The process starts with the creation of a storyworld bible, a document that provides an overview of the experience that I wish to create.”

“What’s interesting is that story architecture borrows from a number of other industries. For instance there are elements of “beta testing,” where the audience comes in and tests the storyworld similar to the practices of software developers. There is the creation of a storyworld bible, which has similar elements that are found within the game bibles often used by the gaming industry. Finally there are flow and mapping phases that are similar to how Web sites are designed. Overall these design elements are intended to help make the storyworld engaging and social. ”

“Cinema has had a good run. It came of age in the last century. And don’t get me wrong — I’m not declaring the death of cinema, I’m merely suggesting that storytelling is adapting for a new century, one in which the world is connected in ways never before possible. But ironically, in order to go forward we are drawing from a precinema past, when the art of storytelling was an experience and its authorship was not held by one but many. A time when stories were freely passed from one individual to another, and along the way embellished by those who told them.”

Weiler, L ~ Lance Weiler explains why filmmakers should expand their films into a “storyworld.”

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“Knowing that a “build it and they will come” attitude will fail [...].” Perhaps in the case of Ipswich as a city, but QUT has an established community and students who WANT outlets for their ideas.

US
CANADA
AUSTRALIA
GREATER CHINA AND INDIA
JAPAN
SOUTH KOREA
GERMANY
FRANCE
SWEDEN

Screen Daily ~ Global Piracy Report (10.07.2009)