On 22nd May 2004, Richard Stallman came to Bristol at the invite of plugincinema to give a talk entitled Community vs. Copyright. Richard Stallman has been cited as one of the most important people in computing today. As founder of the Free Software Foundation (www.FSF.org), his ideas have transcended the computing arena to be influential in most areas of technology and culture. This event originated out of the plugincinema book, during the writing of which we contacted Richard which resulted in him contributing towards the book.
Community vs. Copyright When asked to summarise his position into a simple sentence, Richard Stallman replied; "It is natural to share." This illustrates his position; one where restricting the right to copying and share information is an immoral thing to do. Below is a summary of this speech:
A Brief History of Copyright Richard began with a history of copyright: He stated that prior to the age of the printing press, there was no such concept of copyright. As the printing press arrived it brought with it a new power - that of multiple copies.
 In the US, the right of copyright was granted as a temporary measure (as an industrial regulation) so that people exchanged the freedom to make copies (which as one needed a press to do so, was not of much value to most people) for the idea that publishing would lead to more knowledge being available.
However, as the digital age has arrived - and technology now grants us the power to make copies - he stated that we need to renegotiate this trade of freedom to copy vs. copyright, as that which was traded many years ago as a right with little use, is no longer possessed with such little value.
DVDs As an example of these concepts in action, he talked of the DeCSS case: where people had figured out how to make a Free (as in Freedom - i.e. Software that adheres to the ideas of the Free Software Foundation) software DVD player. But this knowledge has been censored: it is not possible to buy a DVD and play that film using Free software. It is his belief that the US law know as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act has allowed publishers to write their own copyright laws.
A Way Forward He then outlined what should be done: That if governments were truly democratic they would be striving to re-position copyright to give more freedom to the public. This is his suggested method: Works could be divided down into three categories. Each of there categories would 'pay' a differing amount of freedom, as to have the same amount of freedom offered for all works is as illogical as saying everything, from books to DVDs should cost the same in monetary terms. These categories are:
Functional Works
Those works with a utilitarian function. | These should be free to be modified and copied. The Free Software Foundation has shown that this can happen having produced a huge library of Free software. Another example is Wikipedia - which has become the largest encyclopaedia in history and is a collective and Free project. | Works that say what people think.
Science papers, essays, memoirs etc. | There should be non-commercial freedom to distribute, but no modification, as this fundamentally alters the position taken in the original works and serves no purpose. It would be acceptable to have a revenue stream here from a copyright of 3 years, after which they become public domain. | Entertainment Works
Works where the value lies in the sensation of their consumption. Fiction, films, novels etc. | There should be non-commercial freedom to distribute. Modification is allowed, but providing that modification results in new and original works: all entertainment works should be grist for the artistic mill. As an example he talked of Shakespeare 'borrowing' from others works - if he had been writing today, much of his best-loved work would be illegal. It would be acceptable to have a revenue stream here from copyright of 10 years, after which they become public domain. | Revenue Streams  Richard also suggested that we should be looking at new forms of revenue in the digital age. He suggested two methods: A tax on blank media (such as CDRs) and on Internet connectivity that can then be distributed to those making works - though this should be distributed in a non-linear (e.g. square root) method - as a work becomes more popular the revenue goes up, slowing as it grows.
This method would avoid income disparity and placing all the revenue in the hands of major stars. He also suggested that a voluntary 'click here to donate' system could also be used.
A Final Note
Richard Stallman said that sharing is natural - we can tell this because copyright needs to be backed up by enforcement; because it goes against human nature. He outlined a vision for a freer society where information is less about profit and more about human progress - a vision he believes in fight for. Further Information
DeCSS Case
http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-1011326.html
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
http://anti-dmca.org/
Free Software Foundation
http://www.fsf.org/
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Thanks to Richard Stallman and the FSF for thier time, the Watershed (esp. thanks to Gill & Danny) for hosting the event and all those who helped out (Jon, Shaun, Mike!). |
