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Reconciling Copyright with Cumulative Creativity
The Third Paradigm
9781788114172 Edward Elgar Publishing
Reconciling Copyright with Cumulative Creativity: The Third Paradigm examines the long history of creativity, from cave art to digital remix, in order to demonstrate a consistent disparity between the traditional cumulative mechanics of creativity and modern copyright policies. Giancarlo Frosio calls for the return of creativity to an inclusive process, so that the first (pre-modern imitative and collaborative model) and second (post-Romantic copyright model) creative paradigms can be reconciled into an emerging third paradigm which would be seen as a networked peer and user-based collaborative model.
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Critical Acclaim
Contents
More Information
Reconciling Copyright with Cumulative Creativity: The Third Paradigm examines the long history of creativity, from cave art to digital remix, in order to demonstrate a consistent disparity between the traditional cumulative mechanics of creativity and modern copyright policies.
From Platonic mimesis to Shakespeare’s ‘borrowed feathers’, culture was produced under a paradigm in which imitation, plagiarism, and social authorship formed key elements of the creative moment (the 1st paradigm). However, the cumulative nature of creativity is rarely accounted for in modern copyright policies, which build upon a post-Romantic individualistic view emphasizing absolute originality rather than imitation (the 2nd paradigm). Today, in an era of networked mass collaboration and user-based creativity, the enclosure of knowledge brought about by an ever-expanding copyright paradigm seems archaic, and a deliberate defiance of inevitable cultural evolution.
Giancarlo Frosio calls for returning creativity to an inclusive rather than exclusive process, so that the 1st and 2nd creative paradigms can be reconciled into an emerging third paradigm. This ground-breaking work will appeal to those interested in both the history and future of creativity and copyright.
From Platonic mimesis to Shakespeare’s ‘borrowed feathers’, culture was produced under a paradigm in which imitation, plagiarism, and social authorship formed key elements of the creative moment (the 1st paradigm). However, the cumulative nature of creativity is rarely accounted for in modern copyright policies, which build upon a post-Romantic individualistic view emphasizing absolute originality rather than imitation (the 2nd paradigm). Today, in an era of networked mass collaboration and user-based creativity, the enclosure of knowledge brought about by an ever-expanding copyright paradigm seems archaic, and a deliberate defiance of inevitable cultural evolution.
Giancarlo Frosio calls for returning creativity to an inclusive rather than exclusive process, so that the 1st and 2nd creative paradigms can be reconciled into an emerging third paradigm. This ground-breaking work will appeal to those interested in both the history and future of creativity and copyright.
Critical Acclaim
‘What I love most about this book is the brilliance with which it is written, it is bursting with cultural references and embedded with incidental, and yet somehow integral, stories of characters, quotes, films and creators. If you work or study in the field of copyright –lawyer, legislator, librarian or lobbyist – you should read this book. It would be of particular interest to anyone who has ever thought about what creativity is, and what its relationship with copyright is, or ought to be.’
– The IPKat
‘In this important book, Giancarlo Frosio combines historical insight and legal scholarship to prove what many of us have suspected for a while: that the current, exclusivity-based paradigm of copyright no longer is optimal to foster creativity. Accordingly, he identifies the features of the emerging inclusive and open model enabled by digital technology and advocates the regulatory changes which are required to pave the way to the success of this new paradigm.’
– Marco Ricolfi, University of Turin, Italy
– The IPKat
‘In this important book, Giancarlo Frosio combines historical insight and legal scholarship to prove what many of us have suspected for a while: that the current, exclusivity-based paradigm of copyright no longer is optimal to foster creativity. Accordingly, he identifies the features of the emerging inclusive and open model enabled by digital technology and advocates the regulatory changes which are required to pave the way to the success of this new paradigm.’
– Marco Ricolfi, University of Turin, Italy
Contents
Contents 1ST PARADIGM: HARMONY 1. Cumulative Creativity, Collaboration and Borrowing 2. Oral-formulaic Tradition, Popular Culture and Iconic Characters 3. Gift, Market and Patrons 4. Individualism and the Original Genius 2ND PARADIGM: SEPARATION 5. The Road to Propertization and Enclosure 6. Imprisoned Characters and ‘Feared’ Uses 7. Corporate-Driven Culture and Cultural Diversity; Intermezzo: Digital threat or renaissance? 3RD PARADIGM: RECONCILIATION 8. From the Oral Formulaic Tradition to Digital Remix 9. The Return of the Gift 10. The Temple of Digital Enlightenment Epilogue Index
