Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

6The role of intellectual property in the creative economycreation of derivative works based on the original, as furtherelaborated below.The overextension of traditional copyright restrictionsis also kept in balance by market competition. If the originalcreator charges a sufficiently high price, other creators mayfind an incentive to invest producing a comparable alternative.The availability of such substitute goods for most worksreduces market share and lessens the potential restrictiveimpact of monopoly situations. Wherever monopolistic oranti-competitive practices are detected, there is a role forcompetition policy, which should be perceived as complementaryto the copyright system and an important counterbalanceto the exclusive rights that it provides.6.5.1 Creative Commons licences:A fast-growing movementThe evolution of the Internet and digital technologyhas created an open market for the distribution and sharingof intellectual properties. But in the fast-paced digital age,how can those who work in the creative industries safeguardtheir intellectual property? The protection of intellectualproperty rights has become one of the most difficult challengesfor creative industries, affecting governments, artists,creators, analysts and agencies alike. The most significantchallenge is how legal and policy frameworks can keep upwith the constant change. Technology evolves quickly andspawns new innovations that on the one hand help the creativeindustries, but on the other create social and legal barriersto the effective use and protection of their outputs.The recent pace of technological change has created amismatch between what is possible — often simply andinexpensively — and what is allowed. Sharing files? That’sillegal according to international copyright law. Mixing ormashing music, text or video is also usually illegal. Postingexcerpts from a website or blog is still illegal in most cases.Of course, these “infringements” are still happening, but itis difficult to build legitimate, sustainable practices or businessmodels when every participant is potentially a criminalin the eyes of the law.While copyright remains the fundamental guarantorof the rights of authorship, the Creative Commons movementis winning favour among artists, creators and educatorslooking to protect their intellectual property rights. CreativeCommons (CC) is a non-profit corporation dedicated tomaking it easier to share creative works within the rules ofcopyright. Through free licences and other tools, CC providesa mechanism for creators to embrace the capacities ofthe Internet to collaborate virtually, and expand access toinformation and opportunities. CC licences are not an alternativeto copyright but are a permissive tool for facilitatingthe release and waiver of rights, primarily for works of lowimmediate commercial value. 12CC licences were created in collaboration with intellectualproperty experts around the world to ensure that thelicences work globally, and are composed of a combinationof four basic choices. There are now more than 250 millionCC-licensed items on the Internet, created by artists,authors, musicians, scientists, artisans, educators and otherswho seek to share their work, build their reputation andincrease the impact of their efforts. Among the betterknowninstitutions and groups using CC licences around theworld are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for itsOpen Course Ware Initiative, Al Jazeera for its CreativeCommons video repository, Google for search and discovery,and even the White House in the United States for allpublic communications channels.CREATIVE COMMONS:TYPES OF BASIC LICENCESATTRIBUTIONAllows others to copy, distribute, display, performand remix copyrighted work, as long as they give credit in theway requested.NON-COMMERCIALAllows others to copy, distribute, display, performand remix work for non-commercial purposes only. If theywant to use the work for commercial purposes, they mustcontact the creator for permission.SHARE ALIKEAllows others to create remixes and derivative worksbased on creative work, as long as they only distribute themunder the same CC license as the original work waspublished.12 This section is based on an article by Ahrash Bissell, Executive Director, CCLearn, Creative Commons, published by International Trade Forum ITC, Issue 3/2009. For more informationabout Creative Commons visit www.creativecommons.org.178 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010