Jessica Silbey (Stanford University Press, forthcoming 2014)

Creative Communities,Innovative Industries:The (Ir)relevance of Intellectual Property in the 21st Century Jessica Silbey (Stanford University Press, forthcoming 2014)

Project Design • face-to-face interviews, stratified sampling • standard interview protocol, open-ended, non-directive • transcribed and coded • database of language (cultural tropes, categories)

Project Goals • qualitative study adds to quantitative studies • thick description of various ways in which IP intervenes

Project Focus (1) motives and mechanisms; (2) narrative incarnations of innovative and creative activity; and (3) claims and entitlements.

borrowing in terms of diverse formats, markets, audiences

Leaky IP Misalignment

labor over output & valuing hard work “dogged pursuit” “painfully mechanical” “military operation” “bricklaying”

tangible claims “polish” writing plagiarism is standing on someone else’s “scaffolding” patents are “chits” for trading taking an idea is “stealing someone else’s homework” breaching DRM is “shoplifting” patent portfolio is value you can “put your hands on”

Leaky how? mistaken or misshapen under-enforced over-enforced

Leaky why? rent seeking relationship building freedom enhancing

Leaky why? More Content & Conversations Building Collaborations New Experiences New Audiences New Markets New Formats

“I think everything’s kind of derivative. Like art in general. You know, people are always emulating … I would be flattered.” – filmmaker

“A total copy rip-off, you know, not so great. But if someone’s just taking parts, I mean, and being influenced by it, that’s totally great -- or inspired in some way by it. … Being inspired, I mean, we’re all -- it’s all this big pool, and we’re throwing stuff into it. So if someone is being inspired to write something by it, or stealing an image, or…that’s -- yeah, that’s unavoidable.” - musician

“I remember running into one of the people who copied me, … at a local stationery store. And I said hi, and I said, ‘I understand you have got a new series coming out.’ And he blushed. … He said, ‘Well…yeah.’ I said, ‘…, you know, it’s the sincerest form of flattery.’ … it didn’t bother me. Not at all. … you know you have succeeded when somebody tries to copy you. … Oh, I’d be annoyed if theirs succeeded more than mine did. But mine went into a television series. Theirs was optioned … and then they never did anything with it, so…” - author of children’s books series

“…let’s face it: [being a composer] is a lot less lucrative than being a senior chemical engineer. And if I were in it for the money, I would have made a very poor choice of career. So [if someone was copying me] I wouldn’t really care that much if it were bringing satisfaction to the people who were doing it. You know, I get to see what I write realized the way I want it realized in my own company. If somebody wants to see it differently in a different venue and that makes them happy, that’s great. If they were doing it and not making any money, I wouldn’t care if I didn’t make any money, either. If they were doing it and bringing in a profit, I would like a piece of it. … I mean, [it] depends on how much money they are making from it…. As long as it’s not defamatory of the original, they can do whatever they wanted. … And if somebody wants to reinterpret a character…which is in a non-offensive way, it’s a slightly different interpretation, that’s great. But to make it something which would be offensive and then put my name on it would be a problem.” - music composer

“It used to be the way records were sold. … in the old days, when it was vinyl, and you bought a record, you opened up that record, and you smelled the paper, and then you read the liner notes before you put the record on. … Now you download everything, and when you download it, after three weeks, throw it away. Or it sits on your iPod until it shuffles to when you hear it again. Because there is not an experience when you buy records anymore. So … we … tell [clients] … how [to] … enhance [their media product] through narrative, through story, through continuity. … the term [now] is ‘transmedia.’ … [C]ross-platform [demands] repurposing material. … We are hired to do a bunch of that [new] stuff. … [W]e create the mythology, and then [the client] create[s] those ancillary tidbits from our mythology… The mythology is the spine of the franchise. And everything that comes out of it are the nerves that come from that spine. So the film is one, books are another, comic books are another.” - entertainment & media consultant

“As a general policy, they are starting to say, ‘Look: if we have got a fan out there who has taken all of our stuff and made some YouTube video out of it, that’s great for us, right? That’s not bad. That’s good. … I do see media companies embracing the technology a little bit more, and saying, ‘Look: OK, it’s infringement, probably, by the letter of the law. But I am OK with it, because it’s not really hurting; it’s actually helping me, right? I mean, it’s actually getting my message out.’” – media and entertainment lawyer

“There’s no effective way to work around [resale of used books or illicit copying] except to create new editions, get the teachers to adopt the new edition. But then as price resistance will creep in, they wouldn’t do it. So it’s hard to sell it once and have to sit around for four years. The Internet became a great tool for linking in supplemental content, but then you would have to buy the book to get the password to get to the Internet for a … subscription …” - textbook publisher

We deliver … things called “one stop planners.” ... We do pre-canned PowerPoints. We do test banks. …They really want us to deliver a full suite of … probably 20 additional products … so when they buy the book, they get the additional products. There will be workbooks for the life of it, so that the kids can write in the workbooks and throw them away. There will be all sorts of ancillary materials. So this is the sort of centerpiece of a fulsome program …but you are also driving it as more of a transactional sale, you know? - textbook publisher

Leaky how? Leaky why? rent seeking relationship building freedom enhancing mistaken or misshapen under-enforced over-enforced

Leakiness outcomes? Borrow: make and experience Pay Homage: honor and maintain conversations Broaden Audience: expand and enrich communities Make Money: grow the market

Creative Communities,Innovative Industries:The (Ir)relevance of Intellectual Propertyin the 21st Century Jessica Silbey (Stanford University Press, forthcoming 2014)

Chapters. 1. “Inspired Beginnings” 2. “The Work of Craft: Work Makes Work” 3. “Making Do with Leaky IP” 4. “Instruction” (the role of lawyers) 5. “Reputation” 6. “Distribution”

Jessica Silbey (Stanford University Press, forthcoming 2014)