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Digital Culture: The Changing Dynamics
cultural (i.e. non-market) motivations prevail over market-based ones. Benkler
proposes that in the network information economy non-market ways of
commons-based peer production have a more significant role than in the industrial
information economy as conditions for production of information are widespread and
new modalities of organizing production are possible: “radically decentralised,
collaborative and non-proprietary; based on sharing resources and outputs among
widely distributed, loosely connected individuals who cooperate with each other
without relying on either market signals or managerial commands” (Benkler, 2006:
60).
Such social production presents new sources of competition for cultural and media
industries producing information goods. It is important for the cultural sector to
understand the new context in which the users are at the same time their competitors
and co-creators of cultural information. Understanding the opportunities that social
production presents would contribute to developing mutually reinforcing
relationships with institutions in the cultural sector, as social production is creating
new sources of inputs, new expectations, habits and tastes as well as opportunities for
outputs. As Benkler remarks, “consumers are changing into users – more active and
productive than the consumers of the industrial information economy” (Benkler,
2006: 126). Within such a context, in which cultural professionals are put in a
situation in which they are more or less sharing control with users, it is interesting to
observe how the roles of the consumer and producer are constantly shifting.
Users are more and more becoming producers in the network environment and
they also claim the right to use and re-use existing information and cultural
expressions that are available in the digital environment and that form part of our
cultural memory and identities. This situation creates a tension, as in today’s
capitalistic system mass cultural production and consequently our means of
expression have been subsumed according to the interests of multinational
profit-making conglomerates. We should ask ourselves whether culture is part of the
market or the market part of culture. Cultural industries are treating cultural products
and information as property. Communication technologies are enabling the wide
participation of users, but in the situation where information is treated as property the
question arises as to how users can use it. Thus, issues about using information for
consumption or information for action never stop being in focus.
The fact that information is both input and output in the process of knowledge
production and a non-rival good should be re-emphasized. Throughout history, the
richness of public content has inspired creativity and creators have used pre-existing
materials in developing new works. This shows that cultural heritage and open access
to its resources are important in the creative process that keeps our culture alive.
Copyright laws are strong tools that big businesses and media conglomerates are
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