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diff --git a/publications/2009-copyme.txt b/publications/2009-copyme.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5929801 --- /dev/null +++ b/publications/2009-copyme.txt @@ -0,0 +1,485 @@ +Copy me: Technological change and the consumption of music +======================================================================= + +### Nick White +### 2009 + +> For those who worry about the cultural, economic and political power +> of the global media companies, the dreamed-of revolution is at hand. +> The industry may right now be making a joyful noise unto the Lord, +> but it is we, not they, who are about to enter the promised land. +> (Moglen 2001) + +Introduction +----------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Technological changes have political implications. Changing the way we +interact with things encourages a reconsideration of the rules and +institutions that have governed previous interactions with them. + +The current debate about copies of recorded music using the Internet +is an excellent example of this, and by examining it one may better +understand the relations between people and recorded music, and +between listeners and the traditional publishers of music. + +While undoubtedly a great deal may be usefully said and examined in +other technological changes in music recordings, I will here focus +primarily on filesharing, as it is something I have been somewhat +involved in myself, and hence I have significantly more knowledge +'from the inside.' + +I will begin by discussing traditional definitions of 'commodity,' +and then move on to a very brief overview of historical trends in +copying and music recording. I will also touch upon the printing +press in order to discuss the creation and rationale behind copyright +laws, which form a major part the present filesharing debate. I will +then go into greater depth into the current practises of people who +share music on filesharing networks, and the response by the recording +industry, before embarking on an analysis of the meaning and +significance of some of these new practises and dialogues. + +It should be noted that I'm speaking primarily of England and the +United States of America, and the situation will be somewhat different +in other parts of the world. + + +The Meaning of 'Commodity' +----------------------------------------------------------------------- + +The word 'commodity' has been used variously to talk about items of +exchange. In the capitalist market a 'commodity' is defined as having +several key features, from which are derived appropriate rules of +trade. + +Commodities are also generally assumed to be rival and exclusive; that +is in trading an item one loses access to it. + +The most important feature of a commodity is that it be comparable to +another commodity, in order that their relative values may be judged +so that one may establish an exchange value for the item. Indeed +Kopytoff (1986) goes so far as to claim that wherever exchange +technology is introduced which allows a greater range of things to be +compared (such as for example money in newly colonised regions), more +objects are commodified. + +Two commonly identified means of deciding on the relative value of a +commodity are use value and exchange value. Use value is based upon +the utility of the commodity, whereas exchange value is based upon +the amount of labour that went in to creating it. (Sterne 2006: 830) +Different systems of exchange weigh the relative merits of utility +versus production labour to value commodities differently. + +Assigning value to works of art is of course a very difficult and +personal task, revealing a great deal about the valuer as well as +what is being valued. Several commentators have argued - Adorno and +Horkheimer (1972) perhaps most strongly - that to assign an artwork +an agreed-upon value in order to facilitate its exchange undermines +both the personal and the transcendent nature of art, and inevitably +devalues and debases it. + + +The History of Recorded Music +----------------------------------------------------------------------- + +While such concepts of commodity appear to map quite easily onto most +physical objects, using such terms to talk about recordings of one +sort or another is generally less straightforward. + +Indeed the technology of the printing press, by dramatically reducing +the production cost of creating copies of written works, was an early +example of the difficulty of reconciling ideas of commodity with the +new properties of exchange enabled. To be more specific, by enabling +near-perfect copies of a work to be made, the qualities of rivalness +and exclusivity which were assumed of a commodity were altered. While +the initial creation costs of a work remained high, the cost of +subsequent copies dropped dramatically, making it economically +feasible to make and sell copies of works in a far less centralised +manner. + +In the free market the cost to produce something is the means of +determining its exchange value, which becomes more problematic when +means of mechanical reproduction become available. This is as the +production cost differs very significantly between the item produced +and its copy. Whereas the first work costs perhaps one year's salary +for an author, plus the amount for the set up of the book in the +press, plus the materials needed, plus the working of the press, a +great many subsequent copies may be made for only the cost of +additional materials and working the press again. The exchange-value +of all subsequent copies is extremely low, but does not take into +account the author's salary. + +Publishers chose to create a business model in which the initial +production costs of a work could be compensated by subsequent +printings, which would be priced a little over the exchange value +which the free market would assign. However such a model was +undermined if a competitor took a work which had already been +paid-for and produced their own copies at a price closer to its +exchange value. In order for publishers to ensure the feasibility of +their business-model concepts of copyright were enshrined into law, +removing the right of anybody but the author (or more typically a +publisher designated by them) to print a given work. + +In so doing publishers legally repressed the new economic qualities +printing presses bestowed on the written word - less exclusivity - +and instead artificially mirrored the model of scarcity under which +which the majority of the market operated. + +This way of business worked reasonably well, and when it became +feasible to produce of mechanical reproductions of music, publishers +adopted essentially the same model, using copyright laws to ensure a +monopoly sufficient to pay back the initial creation costs. + +However this model was threatened somewhat by the introduction of new +technologies which dramatically decreased the expense, size and +difficulty of copying music to the point that many private individuals +could do so themselves. Whereas previously making unauthorised copies +had been limited to large operations, new technology now enabled a +much larger group of people to copy and share recorded music, +independent of any external organisation. While such home-copied music +was generally of noticeably poorer quality than an officially +sanctioned copy, widespread use made clear that for many the virtue of +sharing music was worth some degradation in quality. + +Publishers were unsurprisingly hostile towards home copying of the +work which they had released, invoking the fact that such activity was +technically breaking copyright laws (though these laws had been +drafted with rival businesses in mind), and arguing that home copying +was causing a reduction in their sales of music which would result in +a smaller number of musicians able to be supported by them. +(Commentators such as Adorno and Horkheimer (1972) argue that a +smaller pool of musicians would make no real difference to the quality +of output from the publishers, as by their nature they homogenise and +will only support acts which propound their world-view. See below.) +Over time however the publishers found that there was no realistic way +to stop home-copying, and resigned themselves to a position of quiet +grumbling. People evidently still bought copies of music produced by +publishers, due to factors such as increased sound quality and +included cover artwork, and the belief that by doing so one was +ensuring the continuance and success of the musician. + +With the new technologies of music compression, filesharing software +and cheap internet access came a far more significant threat to the +business model of music publishers. + +Computers on an electronically are primarily copying machines of +anything digitisable - almost any task performed on a computer +requires the copying of digital information across various parts of +the computer. The measure of how quickly information can be copied +between different parts is a significant measure of how fast a +computer is said to be. And so it is when networking computers +together, and as such a primary focus of network engineering is +ensuring copying between computers is as fast and efficient as +possible. Computer networks at their core are no more than +geographically insensitive copying systems. + +By allowing anybody with an internet connection to share music with +anyone else with an internet connection with no more effort than +setting up a filesharing program, a global network of available music +was created. Now anybody with internet access had free access to +almost any piece of recorded music at near- or identical quality to +the products of the publishers' copies. Moreover the process of +acquiring music copies using internet filesharing was faster and more +convenient than the traditional vehicles offered by publishers. + +The structure of the computer networks which make up the internet are +by design decentralised and fault-tolerant, and as such top-down +control or restriction of internet activities is very difficult. This +is further compounded by its transnational nature, which renders +national legislation on acceptable uses largely ineffective, as one +may simply access the desired material on a computer in a country +which has no such legal restrictions. Thus we get the well-known quote +by John Gilmore: "The net interprets censorship as damage and routes +around it." While early filesharing networks such as Napster were +centralised and hence could be easily shut down by stopping a few +computers, most are now designed to take advantage of the +decentralised nature of the internet, and thus remain active +regardless of the status of any particular computer in the network. + + +Filesharing: Individuals +----------------------------------------------------------------------- + +The first point to note regarding the practises of individuals is the +enormous popularity of filesharing as a means of acquiring recordings +of music. Despite appeals and threats from music publishers the usage +of filesharing networks is commonplace among those comfortable with +technology. Included among these are many artists signed to record +labels, though many others reject filesharing citing reliance on a +business model which would be undermined by their doing so. + +The importance within filesharing networks of making newly downloaded +music available for at least a few days is very frequently emphasised, +though technically it's very rarely enforced (not least because it's +very difficult technically to do - as the networks have been +engineered from the ground-up to facilitate the free copying of data). +The process of only keeping a downloaded file available until one's +own download is complete and then immediately removing access to +others is strongly frowned upon, and referred to as 'leeching'. + +Some commentators have suggested that such emphases can lead one to +fruitfully consider treating filesharing as a gift economy (Barbrook +1998), but as Zerva (2008: 16) points out, the typically very diffuse, +vague and anonymous social connections between exchange partners +renders such a frame of analysis inappropriate. + +That copyright law is being broken is very widely known by +participants, but evidently is not regarded as a valid reason to +change their habits. Indeed many who are more deeply involved in the +filesharing community have vocally opposed (with varying degrees of +sophistication) current copyright regimes as inappropriate and +inapplicable in the era of the internet. + +Probably the largest and best organised of such opposition groups call +themselves the 'free culture' movement. Inspired heavily by the 'free +software' movement before them, at the centre of their beliefs are +that it is an ethical imperative to allow the sharing of digital work, +and in many cases also explicitly allow others to use one's work in +their own creations. This is accomplished through a series of +copyright licences (this again is an innovation first used in the free +software movement, by which one allows redistribution of a work +providing certain conditions are met.), the most popular of which are +produced by the Creative Commons foundation, and allow several choices +as to how one's work may be used. Some of these licenses, referred to +as 'share-alike' licenses by creative commons, and more broadly as +'copyleft' licenses, actively encourage the sharing of a work, by +allowing one to modify or incorporate the work into their own work +however they choose, providing that the resultant work is also +released under the same sharable license. This effectively turns +copyright law on its head, and has hence been described as "a form of +intellectual jujitsu." (Williams 2002) + + +Filesharing: The Publishing Industry +----------------------------------------------------------------------- + +The response from the music publishers was unsurprisingly less +enthusiastic. After cutting the head off Napster only to find a +hundred new networks spring up, the publishers started an aggressive +campaign to sell the idea that music recordings ought to be treated as +any physical commodity, and moreover that copying a recording was no +different to stealing from a shop. Indeed the rhetoric of 'stealing' +and 'theft' was employed a great deal by the industry, in an attempt +to ensure that any discussion of filesharing would be framed in terms +implying that recordings were no different from physical items. + +When it became clear that a significant number of people were not +swayed by their advertisements, and filesharing networks were +technically nigh-impossible to dismantle, the Recording Industry +Association of America (RIAA), soon followed by the British +Phonographic Industry (BPI), started the highly controversial practise +of suing individuals who made their copies available on filesharing +networks for copyright infringement. With estimates of numbers of +people sharing copyrighted material reaching the millions it was clear +that the lawsuits were not intended to directly target each individual +offender, but rather scare enough people into stopping to make the +filesharing networks less attractive and useful. Indeed it appears +that industry hoped that by targeting prolific 'seeders' (that is +people who share a large amount of content) they would change the +economic situation to one in which the best path for the individual +(according to classical game-theory) would be to only download what +they needed and share as little as possible, hence initiating the +conditions for a tragedy of the commons type scenario. Thus far +however such tactics have primarily served to provoke resentment +towards the industry, thus for many adding the motivation of fighting +a system seen as destructive. + +Industry groups have also lobbied for and won significantly more +stringent copyright laws, such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act +(DMCA) in the USA and the European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD) in +the European Union. One of the major features of such laws is to make +the breaking of copy-protection measures on digital copies illegal. +Copy-protection is as mentioned above a very difficult thing to +institute on computers, whose basic design is to copy data. As such +the recording industry found that any copy protection scheme they +added to their copies was quickly dismantled, so they turned instead +to the courts in an attempt to dissuade people from breaking the +protection measures. These too appear to have done little to stop the +breaking of copy-protection, but have further incensed and solidified +many against the recording industry and their lobbyists. + +In their public statements recording industry bodies have repeatedly +appealed to the need to buy copies only from publishers, as otherwise +musicians can not be paid. Leaving aside debates about the percentage +of profits which major record publishers pass on to their musicians, +in repeatedly justifying their position as enabling musicians to be +paid they strongly implied that no other business model was possible. +Therefore, the argument went, if one wanted a society with full-time +musicians there was no choice but to treat recorded music as a +commodity and reject filesharing. + +Such lack of imagination from the record publishers is not very +surprising, as conservatism towards new technologies is entirely +natural, and of course they have a great vested interest in the system +as it existed before (Mokyr 2002: 220). However a large variety of +alternative business models have been suggested by others which +attempt to work with the new features of recorded music on the +computer network, rather than against them, and as such become more +profitable the more music is shared (at zero cost). Suggestions +include various donation / microdonation schemes, embedded +advertising, and using recordings as a loss-leader for live +performances and merchandise. + + +Analysis +----------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Adorno and Horkheimer (1972) argued that the 'culture industry' +represented a major homogenising and pacifying force to culture, thus +for the first time in history neutralising the power of art to +"protest against the petrified relations under which people lived" +(Adorno 1991: 2) and thus ensuring the continuance of the existing +system of inequality. Moreover, they claimed, the power of the +industry was inescapable, as it tended to subsume and pacify elements +of protest and define the frame of cultural discussion, as well as by +more direct means such as wielding massive top-down power over the +processes of production and distribution. + +The argument follows that the primary role of the culture industry is +to keep all members of society accepting of the political and economic +systems of inequality - or at least too apathetic to do anything about +them. Its role then was largely to facilitate the smooth running of +other major areas of repression, with which its leaders are intimately +connected (Adorno & Horkheimer 1972: 4). + +However if this were the case one would have expected the 'culture +industry' to respond very positively to the phenomenon of filesharing, +as it allowed for the far wider and easier dissemination of the +normative ideologies embedded within their recordings. After all, +while such technology makes it easy for any copy of music to be widely +distributed regardless of source, in practise a significant majority +of copies available were originally produced by the 'culture +industry.' (Sterne 2006: 831) + +One must therefore conclude that while the wellbeing of the wider +systems of power may well be an agenda of the culture industry, of +higher priority is its own profitability. + +A point that should be emphasised is the political power which the +music industry still wields. In being the source for the majority of +music in a culture, with its inevitable ideological payload, the +influence the industry has on the minds of listeners is still +enormously significant, regardless of whether they continue to enjoy a +monopoly over distribution. + +Kopytoff (1986) defines commodity in opposition to the singular. +Copies of music on a filesharing network could then be considered +perfect commodities. However using the calculation of exchange value +based upon the level of sacrifice necessary to acquire a copy one sees +the exchange value drop to zero, (Zerva 2008: 14) in which case copies +could be considered to fall well outside of the realm of commodities, +which at their core are tradeable. + +What such definitional confusion flags up is the inappropriateness of +trying to fit music copying into categories of commodity, which were +created for items with quite different economic properties. In +particular, the meaning of exchange - of voluntarily losing access to +one thing in order to gain access to another - is changed, as in the +world of the computer network one need not lose access to anything in +order to gain access to another. + +So if exchange value drops to zero for recorded music in the age of +filesharing, how may one determine relative value? An easy answer is +to turn instead to use value, that is the value derived by each +individual of actually listening to the music recording. Obviously +then values will differ for each listener, which is no problem as +value-judgements are no longer necessary for successful exchange. + +One could then argue, as Sterne suggests (2006: 831), that music +before recording technologies were available was valued according to +the effect on an individual upon listening, that is to say on use +value. As recorded music became easily available, tied up in physical +items tied to the wider market, music was valued more in terms of +exchange. And now as filesharing once more removes music from the +realm of the market by virtue of changing the rules of its exchange, +focus again is on use value. A somewhat analogous process is claimed +by proponents of free software, where the process of decommoditisation +is seen as "more about clearing away a temporary confusion, than it is +about some strange and amazing departure that's suddenly occurred." +(Moglen 2007) + +One should take care not to overstate the ephemeral nature of digital +copies of recorded music. Sterne points to the continuance of +collecting and stockpiling more music than one is able to listen to as +evidence of a sense of ownership and possession of one's music files, +in the same was that one does in the case of physical objects. +(2006: 831-832) + +Determining the extent to which the new technology associated with +filesharing is a factor behind new political ideas is of course +impossible, but one may usefully discuss the political tendencies +embedded in the technologies. + +Earlier distribution technologies had quite different qualities. For +example the limited bandwidth available to over-the-air transmissions +(e.g. radio and television) made the establishment of a governing body +to decide who could broadcast on which frequency (if at all) quite +necessary and natural. Decisions about how to make such choices often +involved money, and as such large entrenched interests had another +advantage over smaller organisations in doing business and spreading +their particular viewpoints over the airwaves. The decentralisation +and allowance for modular growth offered by the internet has +significantly reduced the need for such a governing body. Of course +many argue that stronger governance of the internet is important, the +difference being that it is not necessary to the successful +functioning of the network as a whole. Recent discussion of laws +regarding 'network neutrality' however illustrate the limits of such a +view, as most people connect to the internet via an internet service +provider, who *could* artificially alter the operation of parts of the +network to their customers. + +Central to general computing, compression technology and computer +networking has long been the striving for faster copying of anything +digital, utterly regardless of concepts such as property rights over +certain digital data. As Sterne puts it "The primary, illegal uses of +the mp3 are not aberrant uses or an error in the technology; they are +its highest moral calling ... These are the instructions encoded into +the very form of the mp3." (2006: 839) However one needs to be careful +with such statements, as they tend to carry an air of technological +determinism which denies individuals agency and ignores instances of +difference. + +When disembodied from their physical forms and instead made to take +digital forms, ideas of copyright and commodity have often been +questioned. The first industry to be exposed to the power of computer +networks as a distribution and indeed creation channel was computer +programming, which was the sphere in which the radical take of +copyright 'copyleft' (see above) was envisioned. The place of software +was reconsidered and concluded not to lie in the commodity realm, but +somewhere quite different: "The technological information about the +terms on which we and the 'digital brains' exist: that's not a +product. That's a culture." (Moglen 2007) + +In many quarters the same is now being said about music, and the place +of the record publishing industry is being recast by those engaged in +file-sharing, from the purveyors of culture to an entity which seeks +to profit by restricting access to a shared culture. + + +Works Cited +----------------------------------------------------------------------- + +- Adorno, T (1991) 'Culture Industry Reconsidered' The Culture + Industry: selected essays on mass culture (Adorno, T), London: Routledge +- Adorno, T & Horkheimer, M (1972) 'The Culture Industry: + enlightenment as mass deception' Dialectic of Enlightenment (ed. + Adorno, T & Horkheimer, M), New York: Continuum +- Benjamin, W (1936) 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical + Reproduction' Illuminations (Benjamin, W) London: Pimlico +- Barbrook, R (1998) [The Hi-Tech Gift Economy](http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/631/552), + First Monday 3: 12 +- Kopytoff, I (1986) 'The Cultural Biography of Things: + Commoditization as Process' The Social Life of Things + (ed. Appadurai, A), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press +- Moglen, E (2001) [Liberation Musicology](http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010312/moglen), + The Nation: March 12 +- Moglen, E (2007) [How I discovered Free Software and met RMS](http://www.linux.com/feature/114303), + Linux.com interview +- Mokyr, J (2002) The Gifts of Athena: Historical Origins of the + Knowledge Economy, Princeton: Princeton University Press +- Sterne, J (2006) The mp3 as cultural artifact, New Media & Society, + California: Sage +- Williams, S (2002) Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for + Free Software, California: O'Reilly Media +- Zerva, K (2008) File-Sharing versus Gift-Giving: a Theoretical + Approach, Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Internet + and Web Applications and Services |