Monday, October 26, 2009
Intellectual Property Seminar Deserves Skepticism
One of the nastier aspects of globalization will be coming to the Caribbean this week. I refer to a seminar to be held in Dominica on so-called intellectual property. This event is sponsored by an NGO called WIPO, which seeks to "harmonize" enforcement of copyright and patents throughout the world, meaning that small countries like those in the Caribbean are brought to heel so that the profits of large American media corporations can be maximized at their expense.
Why do I feel so strongly that those who spend their time on this event should do so with a skeptical eye? I am an educational technologist who is active in groups that seek to produce educational resources that are free for all to use, copy, and modify as they see fit. From my work at universities I have seen firsthand that the publishers of most available educational materials ruthlessly exploit students and universities, and that large entertainment corporations exploit their economic power to maintain their control over both the artists and musicians who produce these works and those who consume them.
Speaking of artists and musicians, I expect this seminar will have a great deal of talk about how wonderful a strong copyright regime would be for those in our countries. Make no mistake, however, the developing world consumes more copyrighted material than it produces, and as such, copyright and patent are manifestly harmful to their economic development.
If nothing else, I hope that Caribbean countries will use this as an opportunity to draft a broad and far reaching "fair dealing" provision wherein copyrighted materials, regardless of source, are free for use for educational purposes. We must at least stop the copyright vampires from keeping the information young people need to learn locked away behind licensing fees they cannot afford!
Why do I feel so strongly that those who spend their time on this event should do so with a skeptical eye? I am an educational technologist who is active in groups that seek to produce educational resources that are free for all to use, copy, and modify as they see fit. From my work at universities I have seen firsthand that the publishers of most available educational materials ruthlessly exploit students and universities, and that large entertainment corporations exploit their economic power to maintain their control over both the artists and musicians who produce these works and those who consume them.
Speaking of artists and musicians, I expect this seminar will have a great deal of talk about how wonderful a strong copyright regime would be for those in our countries. Make no mistake, however, the developing world consumes more copyrighted material than it produces, and as such, copyright and patent are manifestly harmful to their economic development.
If nothing else, I hope that Caribbean countries will use this as an opportunity to draft a broad and far reaching "fair dealing" provision wherein copyrighted materials, regardless of source, are free for use for educational purposes. We must at least stop the copyright vampires from keeping the information young people need to learn locked away behind licensing fees they cannot afford!
Labels: economic colonialism, WIPO
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