Copyright Challenges and User Generated Technologies: an Alumni Event

by Hero Macdonald

On October 10, the QUT Information Professionals Alumni, in conjunction with the QUT Law Alumni presented 'Copyright challenges and changes in the age of user generated technologies: Wikis, blogs, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr and beyond', at Hopgood Ganim Lawyers in Brisbane.

The sell-out-crowd drawing panel, chaired by Tom Cochrane (QUT Deputy Vice Chancellor), drew on a range of industry and academic expertise to present diverse perspectives on the increasingly complex relationship between social interactions, technological development and copyright law, weaving in ideas about the library's potential place in this brave new world.

The panel included Angela Beesley, co-founder and vice-president for community relations of Wikia, Brian Fitzgerald, Head of QUT's School of Law, and Paula Callan, eResearch Access Coordinator at QUT. Cushla Kapitzke, Associate Professor, School of Cultural & Language Studies in Education, QUT, concluded the evening by contextualising the social and legal impacts of the new technologies raised by the three other panellists within the discourses of globalisation, power, culture and history.

When worlds collide

The evening was a fascinating fusion of library, legal and IT knowledge, demonstrating the ways in which the emergence of new user-generated technologies have created intersections between these three domains. The evening illustrated that the rapid expansion of the Internet, and the proliferation of these technologies in particular, makes the need for cross-industry collaboration essential so that we can not only cope with, but also benefit from, the opportunities in these new markets.

In case the audience needed any further evidence of the need for collaboration, the panel reinforced the need for librarians to become fluent in the language of other professions. Emerging technologies such as YouTube, Flickr and MySpace are further blurring the boundaries between the traditional domains of librarians, lawyers, IT professionals and, importantly, the creators/users of online information. As library professionals, we need to be conversant with the broad, cross-industry issues that such technologies present. The evening demonstrated that we need to have the skills and language to communicate professionally and collaboratively with people from a spectrum of other domains if we are to have a voice in the future direction and management of these technologies which are growing in size and importance faster than most of us appreciate.

Another particularly interesting aspect of the evening was the increasing relevance of copyright issues to individuals, from both a professional and a personal perspective, that such technologies have brought about. Central to this was the theme that copyright is a concern for everyone, and that librarians have a key role to play in negotiating and shaping both professional and social responses to copyright challenges as they emerge with new uses and applications of technology.

The art of copyright

The notion of freedom as it is applied to information was one theme that had significant coverage throughout the evening's discussion. Angela Beesley, in particular, described the Free Culture Movement, a social movement designed to promote free distribution of creative work, as a grassroots rejection of overly restrictive copyright laws. The movement promotes the development of truly 'free' content, which takes the idea of freedom beyond the notion of access and cost, to the idea that the content is free to use, reuse, change and 'mash up' without restriction. Organisations such as Wikia, and the Open Source Software movement, were cited as examples that promote such freedom.

Brian Fitzgerald emphasised that the copyright law regulating these new user-generated technologies is lagging behind the actual (and potential) uses of such technologies. In an increasingly user-generated knowledge landscape, he warned that such a lag has the potential to stifle both creativity and the further development of these dynamic and social technologies.

Another interesting and increasingly contentious issue raised by Brian that will undoubtedly play a role in shaping new legal frameworks is the definitions of the roles and responsibilities of the intermediary in copyright law. The extent to which intermediary sites like YouTube are liable for copyright infringements, and the extent to which they have the right or ability to control the activity which they facilitate are yet to be resolved.

In relation to Open Archiving, Paula Callan stressed the importance of researchers, artists and institutions taking an active role in negotiating appropriate copyright agreements with journals for the publication of their work, rather than letting the publishers make all the copyright decisions. Paula noted that many of the default copyright agreements entered into by researchers pose challenges for Open Archiving initiatives aiming to provide 'free' access to the information while minimising the potential for copyright infringements. Awareness and education about copyright are the keys to these successful negotiations.

Open Archives initiatives expand the notion of 'free access' to information to encompass access to scholarly material by those not affiliated with universities (such as practitioners) so that they can afford to maintain engagement with the professional literature in their field. No doubt, these resolution of copyright issues for open archives are therefore of vital interest to many alumni of QUT and other institutions.

Possible, Probable and Preferable futures

The evening was concluded by Cushla Kapitzke's engaging and stimulating presentation which expanded the concept of copyright from a technical and legal realm to a much broader and more complex social, cultural and historical context. By taking a different epistemological approach to technological development (and the associated copyright challenges), Cushla demonstrated the role that globalisation plays in driving the current phenomena that she termed the 'proletarianisation of copyright'. She drew parallels between the current struggles between law, technology and society, and historical battles waged over access to texts and knowledge. She described the conflict and institutional fear that can arise when previously existent barriers to information access are dissolved and people are confronted by the potentially uncontrolled proliferation of meaning. This discussion provided a very useful theoretical framework with which to conceptualise the theme of competing interests and values that had emerged from the previous speakers.

The notion of 'possible, probable and preferable futures' raised by Cushla really emphasised the need for the development and application of a new critical copyright practice. She discussed this in terms of a 'creative rights use ecology' which would more adequately balance the competing interests that exist within copyright law, as well as more effectively manage the tensions and challenges that new technologies pose to the existing copyright framework.

The notion of this 'creative rights use ecology' highlights the potential roles for information professionals to take in orchestrating positive and exciting change in this area through the utilisation of our skills, imagination, and commitment to intellectual freedom.

As a 'first-timer' at an Alumni event, I was impressed by the professional and social value I gained from the evening. The organisers did an admirable job enlisting such an authoritative and engaging panel whose cross-industry perspectives gave depth to the subject and broadened my own awareness of copyright issues and implications. It was a great introduction to QUT Alumni.

Panelists (from left): Paula Callan, Cushla Kapitzke, Angela Beesley, Tom Cochrane (Chair) and Brian Fitzgerald.

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