From Legal Rights and Copyleft for Business Acumen lecture for Artists at UCT Graduate School of Business. A primer to help artists get a sense of how to protect and promote their own creative works within the vibrant and rapidly evolving connection-economy. There is increased fear of copying, and stealing of intellectual property. Creative entrepreneurs have astonishing market advantage however, thanks to the dizzying scope of the internet: to get into direct contact with their fans; sell & pre-sell; draw on the pool of open-licensed culture and tools; develop and test new business models in more fluid IP environments. This is how we learn to make amazing things, with rules. And exercise our rights to expand what edifies our humanity.

1. The ARTIST
The LAW & A COMMONS-SENSE GUIDE
DISCLAIMER [In appropriately small text]: We provide general educational information that may be helpful to those interested in the legal issues, particularly
intellectual property issues arising from the interaction of creative expression, business, digital media and their practical applications. It is not intended to be definitive
legal advice, and is not provided as such. We advise you always to seek professional legal advice before taking any action that could have a major impact on your life or
business. This is not an impartial work of reference. Bias intended.

2. DAMMED [enclosing cultural currency]
Do artists need a financial incentive to create?
Does increased protection foster innovation?
Self portrait. Rev Charles Dodgson. Public Domain
go marvel: Works based on Alice in Wonderland

3. 3 THINGS
what you should know now
1 what is intellectual property?
2 your rights ..& responsibilities
3 emerging business models

4. WHAT IS
1
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY?
trademark
patents
copyright

5. genetic sequences books
photography
govt docs
software
3D printing databases
blog posts film music
academic research
can it be copied? lectures
farm implements video

6. &
...
the Streisand Effect
brands are globalized. no matter
how bananas the suits, do be aware.

7. WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?
set of regimes that deals with creative works.
1. Originality (effort)
2. Material form
3. Qualified person
No registration necessary (avail for cinematic works)
an IDEA itself is not protected.
Copyright will not subsist in a work which is immoral, obscene, libellous or irreligious.
Duration is 50 years after death in SA
= limited monopoly
the Copyright Act of 1978 (Act 98 of 1978

8. INFRINGEMENT
there are EXCEPTIONS.
IT’S JUST FOR YOU: the use of a literary or musical work for private study
REVIEW
CRITICISM or PARODY
REPORTAGE of current events
EDUCATION! teaching material (within limits)
PUBLIC LECTURE: reproducing a lecture or address, if the reproduction is for
information purposes
BEWARE: the exception does not apply when the whole of the work, or a
substantial part of it, is reproduced for its original purpose.
IMPORTANT - GIVE CREDIT: provided that mention is made of the name of
the author and the source of the extract
GET TO KNOW YOUR FAIR DEALING RIGHTS
case-by-case merit. no fixed rules

9. is it a TRANSFORMATIONAL WORK?
(your ‘creative spark’ / ‘sweat of the brow’)
or
is it copied for its ORIGINAL PURPOSE?
JUDGE: what’s your transformative purpose?

10. like a muscle,
if you don’t exercise your
rights... they atrophy
Image Credit : CelebMuscle http://www.flickr.com/photos/celebmuscle NC SA

11. what are the norms of your industry?
proactively define: CODES of BEST PRACTICE

12. 2
YOUR
RIGHTS &
RESPONSIBILITIES
as an artist

13. edit
REMIX
repurpose. recontextualize. refresh.
WATCH: everythingisaremix.info
IMAGE CREDIT: Ani-Bee http://www.flickr.com/photos/missnita/398994567/ CC NC ND

14. GENIUS
our romantic 19th Century hangover
&
STEALING!
“Only those with no memory insist on their originality.” — Coco Chanel
GOTO: austinkleon.com / free-culture.cc
“It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.” - Jean-Luc Godard

15. improv
use what the world
gives you
SOCIAL OBJECTS +
SOCIAL CURRENCY

16. reactive? creative?

17. creativecommons.org
licenses also in Afrikaans, isiZulu & seSotho
Free licenses and other legal tools to give everyone from individual creators to large companies and institutions a simple, standardized way to grant
copyright permissions and get credit for their scientific information, educational materials, and cultural resources while allowing others to copy, distribute
and make specific uses of it. Legally enforceable in our jurisdiction.
You retain your copyright while inviting others to access, reuse or remix according to your license selection.

18. DECODING the LICENSES
BY
attribution
the really
big deal.
give credit to
the creator

19. DECODING the LICENSES
BY
attribution
SA
share alike
apply the same
license as you
share on

20. DECODING the LICENSES
BY ND
attribution no derivatives.
aka keep as is,
nix on the remix

21. DECODING the LICENSES
BY
NC
attribution
non commercial
aka commercial
rights reserved

22. 3 layers of readability
human 1
2 legal
machine 3

23. how nice.
but to be fair, i’m a fan of money
The world of business is being warped by the internet.
Weirder than wonderland, creatives have the massive advantage now. seriously.

24. 3
EMERGING
BUSINESS MODELS

25. dare to share
your IP
“Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors than piracy”
- Tim O’Reilly
CASE STUDIES: techdirt.com

26. CONSUMERS >> PRESUMERS
*
reputation accelerated by freely sharing
films. Now leveraged through fans. *
or indiegogo.com
if you don’t have US account

27. not about the IP of the product itself.
Pirating personality, not so easy.

28. new models for production and distribution
of audiovisual material have appeared,
where author and audiences are connected
much closer together.
now what?
IN THE
IN THE
IN THE
COPYMACHINE
COPYMACHINE
COPYMACHINE

29. c
99
what’s better than free?
less ip protection,
more money & Market opportunity.
WTF!
why?
evidence vs faith-based initiatives
READ: thepublicdomain.org
account for the counter-intuitive. Instinct can lead us astray. test for truth

30. ..& because awesomeness has a
really short 1/2 life
ATTENTION ECONOMY

31. Be careful of confusing value with price.
Making something free does not "devalue" it.
Do we put books in libraries because we, as a
culture, believe books are worthless?
Of course not. We believe they are so valuable,
that we need to make them available to
everyone.
(thanks Karl Heinz)
please take a moment to thank tim-berners lee.

32. FASHION
FOOD
Innovation in Low IP environments
COMEDY
2-sided positionality market value by determined by desirability
SOCIAL MEDIA CREDIT: The Piracy Paradox. Prof Christopher Sprigman. Virginia University

33. don’t wait. create!
cultural appropriation

34. But it’s great marketing for the
original work..
doesn’t fly legally
innocent infringement is no excuse.
TERMS & CONDITIONS APPLY.

35. legal invitations to co-create
don’t punish your fans. +
FAN FICTION
Image Credit : Okinawa Soba http://www.flickr.com/photos/okinawasoba BY SA
R

36. 3 THINGS
what do you know now?
1 _________________________
2 _________________________
3 _________________________

37. SUGGESTIONS
Ideas alone are not copyrightable.
You have a giant pool of creative works to draw on without having to clear rights & pay $$$ to
start your art now. Don’t wait, create!
You can expand your reach of reputation by providing legal ways for fans to remix + share
Innovation is very profitable in some low IP environments where desirability governs value
Transform don’t just lazily copy just to profit from the same purpose.
Say thank you! give the original creator the attribution & link.
People WILL copy what works, build & leverage your reputation and market value, rather than
seeking maximum protection of the works themselves.
Increase the vibrancy of our shared human wealth with your works. Make and share in the open.
Be inspired, remix, repurpose, share widely, give fans a reason to buy from YOU.
Genius is overrated. Let your best ideas have a social life. Invite others to build your creative
works with you.

38. COST OF COPY
no need for your own scriptorium & squad of monks.
lucky fish.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MAXIMIZE
THIS OPPORTUNITY?
A great flourishing of
creativity and discovery
upon us again.
The raw material of
human culture should not
be denied to the
next generation of
creators and scientists,
just because we’re afraid to
evolve our business models.
Apply scientific method to
your fears.
Exercise your rights.

39. ADDITIVE
CULTURE
let’s build together
+
@maxkaizen
Commonsense Legal Primer for Artists by Max Kaizen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.