In the Digital Age, Plagiarism Is Rampant and Protecting Originality Has Become a Major Challenge
Original headline: "2016 Global Digital Content Market Conference" was recently held in Geneva, with attendees focusing on and discussing --
In the Digital Age, How to Protect the Rights and Interests of Creators
The spread of the internet has made it easier to share information resources, but it has also brought greater difficulties for intellectual property protection. Many original works published online see more of their value and revenue captured by large tech companies, which undermines the creative motivation of original authors. How to protect the rights and interests of original creators was discussed at the 2016 Global Digital Content Market Conference, recently held in Geneva, Switzerland.
Original works --
Effort and reward are out of proportion
Data from the World Intellectual Property Organization shows that the creative industries in the digital age are developing rapidly, having created 30 million jobs globally and generated 2.25 trillion US dollars in revenue, making them the world's seventh-largest industry.
Recently, the 2016 Global Digital Content Market Conference was held in Geneva, Switzerland. Hundreds of representatives from governments, institutions and enterprises around the world, as well as people working in music, film, television and broadcasting, publishing and other fields, gathered by the shores of Lake Geneva to tell of their own experiences of survival, gains from growth, and confusion and anxiety in the digital age. "In the digital age, how to protect the rights and interests of original creators" was one of the topics of widespread concern and discussion among attendees.
World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Francis Gurry pointed out that in the nearly ten years of dramatic change in the digital world, the business models of the creative industries have been completely rewritten. For example, in the music industry, data from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's "Digital Music Report 2014" shows that in 2014 the global recorded music industry's output value was 15 billion US dollars, down 3.9% from 2013, while digital music revenue grew to 6.8 billion US dollars.
The global film industry faces a similar situation. The Motion Picture Association of America's "2014 Theatrical Market Statistics Report" points out that box office revenue growth has been slow over the past decade; in 2014 global box office revenue was 36.4 billion US dollars, an increase of only 1%, with DVD and other optical disc sales declining while digital film sales increased. Electronic sales of newly released films in the United States grew 60% in 2014, and digital film purchases in the United Kingdom reached 490 million US dollars in 2013, a 4-fold increase over 2002.
The result of such a trend is that the expansion of the global digital world has led to a shift in the industry value chain and a redistribution of the interests of different players along that value chain.
At this conference, a widely shared view among many music producers, film and television stars, writers and journalists was that digital transformation, on the one hand, brings huge opportunities to the creative industries, and on the other hand, also creates fundamental challenges, even threats. As creators and providers of digital content, what they receive is not commensurate with what they put in, and they may even receive no return at all.
American scientist and thinker Jaron Lanier first proposed the concept of "virtual reality" in the 1980s, and his remarks were thought-provoking: "In fact, only a small number of tech elites have obtained excess profits, while most people are becoming their servants." In his view, encouraged by the internet spirit of open and shared information resources, writers, musicians and journalists continuously publish their intellectual achievements and imaginations to the internet in fragmented forms, but they usually cannot get paid. Large tech companies, meanwhile, are the integrators of these fragments and the profit takers. "For example, they will cut a film into several chapters, add interesting narration or voiceover, attract millions of viewers, and then insert advertisements to earn revenue, but this money is not shared with the original creators; people's fruits of labor are simply swallowed up in this way."
In Lanier's view, "the World Intellectual Property Organization should strive to formulate more reasonable, fair and detailed digital rules, providing everyone, not only professional creators but also ordinary people, with equal access to the field of content creation, and opening up channels for obtaining remuneration, so that intellectual property benefits everyone."
Whether to pay --
It is still hard to reach consensus
At the venue, representatives from both developed and developing countries expressed the wish to "respect intellectual property and protect the rights and interests of original creators." In terms of ideas, people are forming a consensus, but constrained by different economic conditions, development situations or cultural customs, actions in different regions and countries still differ greatly.
Chinese-American composer Tian Zhiren, who has twice won Grammy Awards, said that in Europe, the United States and elsewhere, more and more people are beginning to be willing to pay to enjoy good music. "Spotify, born in Sweden in 2008, is currently the world's largest licensed streaming music service platform, with 75 million users globally, of whom 20 million are paying users."
Ms. Uluma from Kenya raised a question: "If the average daily living cost in a country is less than 1 US dollar per person, how much ability do people have to pay for listening to music or watching films?"
Nigerian film star Oruka let many conference representatives learn for the first time that Africa has a "Nollywood," producing nearly 2,000 films each year.
"In Nigeria, a movie ticket costs nearly 7 US dollars, while a pirated disc costs only 1 US dollar, so the vast majority of films cannot enter cinemas for screening, and directors and actors earn very little." Oruka hopes that African film can achieve leapfrog development in the digital age. "Of course, many conditions are needed, including more widespread, faster and cheaper internet and people having more disposable income, and so on. We still have a long way to go."
"In some places, people still have quite a few mistaken and muddled ideas that urgently need to change." Thai publisher Ms. Thidcharak said, "Many people in Thailand think pirated books are cheap and even poor people can afford them, so what is wrong with that? If all e-books could be downloaded and read for free, then more people could obtain information and knowledge; would that not be an even greater good deed?" Thidcharak pointed out, "So we must persist in guiding and educating readers, making people realize that in the long run infringement is extremely harmful; it will not only suppress authors' desire to create but ultimately weaken the vitality and competitiveness of a nation's culture."
Intellectual property --
Recognized by more ordinary Chinese people
Ms. Sylvia, president of the Chilean Actors' Union, emphasized repeatedly in her speech, "The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances is an important basis for performers seeking protection, and we need to vigorously publicize it and promote it." Sylvia introduced that the treaty grants creators of works such as music, film and drama the right, in accordance with the law, to authorize or prohibit others from using their works, with a protection term of as long as 50 years.
In June 2012, at the World Intellectual Property Organization Diplomatic Conference on the Protection of Audiovisual Performances held in Beijing, all participating parties formally signed the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances. Gurry once spoke highly of the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances: "The Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances filled the gap in international treaties for comprehensive copyright protection in the field of audiovisual performances, and has milestone significance for promoting the healthy and prosperous development of cultural industries around the world."
In 2013, iQIYI launched China's first "online film strategy" and a "revenue-sharing model" that tilts profits toward creators. At this conference, iQIYI Senior Vice President Yang Xianghua, as a specially invited guest of the organizers, shared experience and insights with attending representatives.
"In 2015, iQIYI put 612 online films online, half of which achieved profitability, and 35 films had revenue shares exceeding 1 million yuan, expanding the space for survival and development for many young filmmakers with dreams and talent as well as a group of small and medium-sized production companies." Yang Xianghua said, "Because there are new financing channels, compared with two years ago, online films now have more investment, a wider range of themes and more detailed production. Encouragingly, the good momentum and broad prospects of online films are also attracting many famous directors and actors to join, thereby continuously improving the quality of online films, and a win-win situation for creators and consumers as well as a virtuous cycle of sustainable development is taking shape."