the digital age: copyright vs. copyleftslide: 5 apr 28,2008 open source • free distribution of...
TRANSCRIPT
The Digital Age: Copyright vs. Copyleft Sarah Thayer Trinity College
[email protected] April 28, 2008
Slide: 2 Apr 28,2008
• My paper deals with the issues involved in
current copyright laws
• This is an important topic in FOSS because of
the various kinds of licenses, rights, and current
disputes it is involved in
• Thesis: Copyright laws should only apply to
printed media; Copyleft/Open Source to digital
media and programs
Introduction
Slide: 3 Apr 28,2008
Copyright
• Originally designed to foster culture growth and learning
• Today, serving as a means to pay owners of works and leave the public with all sorts of rules to follow
• Restrictive
Slide: 4 Apr 28,2008
Digital Rights Management
• System that monitors and prices “each subsequent use of a digital file that contains media content or software” (Einhorn, 47).
• Prevents infringement before it happens • No room for exceptions-copyright “fair use”
exception • Fees, rules programmed into devices (such as
iPods) • Best for owners or users?
Slide: 5 Apr 28,2008
Open Source
• Free distribution of source code, allowance of derived works (provided same rights apply)
• Money not primary motivation-volunteers • NASA ClickWorkers • SETI@home • Folding@home
• Increases incentive to produce, leads to higher programming standards, personal enjoyment
• Freedom of users
Slide: 6 Apr 28,2008
Richard Stallman and GNU
• Wanted more freedom for users • GNU: “to make cooperation possible once
again by removing the obstacles to cooperation imposed by the owners of proprietary software”
• GNU/Linux: est. over 10 million users • Copyleft:”uses copyright law, but flips it
over…instead of a means of privatizing software, it becomes a means of keeping software free” (GNU.org)
Slide: 7 Apr 28,2008
Conclusions
• Copyright • Intended for printed works • Restrictive • DRM treats citizens as potential criminals
• Open Source/Copyleft • Encourages learning/creation of culture • Freedom of users • Necessary in modern age
• Copyleft: better for digital age and programming than current copyright laws
Slide: 8 Apr 28,2008
Selected References • Einhorn, Michael A. Media, Technology and Copyright. Cheltenham, UK:
Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004. • Gillespie, Tarleton. Wired Shut. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2007. • GNU Operating System. http://www.gnu.org/. Free Software Foundation.
2008. • Kennedy, Dennis. A Primer on Open Source Licensing Legal Issues:
Copyright, Copyleft, and Copyfuture. www.denniskennedy.com/opensourcedmk.pdf. 2001.
• Tallmo, Karl-Erik. The History of Copyright: A Critical Overview With Source Texts in Five Languages (forthcoming). Nisus Publishing. http://copyrighthistory.com/anne.html
• U.S. Copyright Office. http://www.copyright.gov. Accessed 21 April 2008. Site revised 17 April 2008. http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html.
Questions?
Slide: 9 Apr 28,2008