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Access, piracy and culture: the implications of digitalization in Southeastern Europe
countries the piracy levels are high due to inadequate intellectual property rights
(IPR) regulations, low purchasing power, etc. In this regard, if piracy is done for these
reasons, can we talk about it in negative terms if it influenced the development of a
certain society? In the light of the discussions on overregulation of the digital sphere,
one wonders if the knowledge, information and creativity are going to be available
only to those who can afford it, or are they going to be available to everyone?
Moreover, how will the authors be paid for their work in such circumstances? How
these issues can be reconciled in the fluid conditions caused by digitalization is a
major concern. The fluidity of production and exchange in the digital arena is
bringing new questions every day, and the interpretation of the current legal
framework for the digital sphere creates paradoxes. 3 The interests of the authors,
users and the (multimedia) companies are divergent and sometimes create
paradoxical situations: the interest of authors is to be rewarded for their work, the aim
of users is to access the content as quickly as possible and the companies want to gain
the highest profit available. 4 Overregulation that is inadequate for the digital age
stifles creativity and its development. New non-proprietary projects are influencing
new developments, as Benkler (2006: 2) noted: “A series of changes in the
technologies, economic organization, and social practices of production in this
environment has created new opportunities for how we make and exchange
information, knowledge, and culture. These changes have increased the role of
nonmarket and nonproprietary production, both by individuals alone and by
cooperative efforts in a wide range of loosely or tightly woven collaborations”.
It is not only important that the Southeastern European (SEE) countries 5 and their
cultural sector and creative industries are present in the virtual sphere, but it is also
significant how they position themselves and how they are connected. What is the
level of participation of these countries in the global digital arena? Is there an
adequate access and ICT infrastructure to provide the basic requirements for any
3 For example, the case of student Jesse James who modified an intranet search engine: as the
modified search engine resulted in pirated materials available online, Jesse was branded a
pirate and was demanded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for
$15 000 000 copyright infringements he actually did not make (Lessig, 2004: 48-51).
4 The latest experiment of the group Radiohead showed this very bluntly. To the horror of
their media company, they released their new album digitally available to users for
download for the price users were willing to pay: most of the users offered zero
pounds/euros. The album was recently released in normal CD print with an exclusive
booklet.
5 Where we talk in this paper of the region of Southeastern Europe (SEE) we are referring to
the following countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece,
Montenegro, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
(FYROM). There are, of course, differences between countries, especially taking into
account that three of them are already EU members. This article aims to describe a general
trend in the region.
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