If nature evolves based on open source and networked architecture, then it makes sense that our media should do so as well. The following article makes the argument more acute: climate change media should be open for all educational purposes. I couldn’t agree more. (I recommend clicking through and reading the whole article.)
P2P Foundation » Blog Archive » What use is intellectual property on a dead planet?:
Films and television programmes about climate change should be made freely available beyond their initial broadcast, argues Nalaka Gunawardene.
Films and television programmes about climate change should be designated a ‘copyright free zone’.
This was the call made by broadcasters and independent film-makers at an Asian media workshop held in Tokyo last month (October).
For years, broadcasters have dutifully reported on evolving scientific and political aspects of climate change. They have also made or carried excellent documentaries analysing causes of, and solutions to, the problem. But these are often not widely available, because of tight copyright restrictions.
Limited distribution
Most media companies hang on to their products for years, sometimes long after they have recovered their full investment.
Even when film-makers or producers themselves want their creations to circulate beyond broadcasts, company policies get in the way. In large broadcast or film production companies, lawyers and accountants — not journalists or producers — decide how and where content is distributed.
It isn’t just climate-related films that are locked up with copyright restrictions. Every year, hundreds of television programmes or video films — many supported by public, corporate or philanthropic funds — are made on a variety of development and conservation topics.
These are typically aired once, twice or at best a few times and then relegated to a shelf somewhere. A few may be released on DVD or adapted for online use. But the majority goes into archival ‘black holes’, from where they might never emerge again.
Yet most of these films have a long shelf life and could serve multiple secondary uses outside the broadcast industry.
Thanks Peter!
