van Schijndel, Marieke; Smiers, Joost --- "Imagining the World Without Copyright: The Market and Temporary Protection, A Better Alternative for Artists and the Public Domain" [2006] ELECD 105; in Porsdam, Helle (ed), "Copyright and Other Fairy Tales" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: Copyright and Other Fairy Tales

Editor(s): Porsdam, Helle

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845426019

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: Imagining the World Without Copyright: The Market and Temporary Protection, A Better Alternative for Artists and the Public Domain

Author(s): van Schijndel, Marieke; Smiers, Joost

Number of pages: 18

Extract:

8. Imagining a world without copyright:
the market and temporary protection, a
better alternative for artists and the
public domain
Marieke van Schijndel and Joost Smiers

HARD TO IMAGINE
Some serious cracks are surfacing in the system of copyright as we have
known it in the Western world for a couple of centuries. The system is
substantially more beneficial for cultural conglomerates than for the aver-
age artist; a situation that cannot last. Furthermore it seems inescapable that
digitization is undermining the foundations of the copyright system. It must
be acknowledged that several authors have recently presented analyses of
the untenability of the contemporary system of copyright. Yet most of their
observations only allude to ­ but do not address ­ what we deem the most
fundamental question of all: If copyright is inherently unjust, what could
come in its place to guarantee artists ­ creative and performing ­ a fair
compensation for their labours, and how can we prevent knowledge and
creativity from being privatized (Bettig 1996; Bollier 2003, 119­34; Boyle
1996; Coombe 1998; Drahos and Braithwaite 2002; Drahos and Mayne
2002; Frith and Marshall 2004; Lessig 2002, 2004; Litman 2001; Perelman
2002; Vaidhyanathan 2003)? It is time to move beyond merely criticizing
copyright. The pressing question is: What alternative can we offer artists
and other cultural entrepreneurs in rich as well as poor countries that bene-
fits them, and that brings the increasing privatization of creativity and
expertise to a halt? Our goal in this chapter is to develop such an ...