Why Creative Commons Hasn't Caught On In Serbia: They're Happier Without Copyright At All
from the freedom-is-a-nice-thing dept
This is from a few weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to it, though I found it quite fascinating. Rick Falkvinge, in discussing a recent trip to Serbia for the Share Conference, points out that Serbian content creators haven't really embraced Creative Commons, not because they prefer the full limits of copyright, but because many don't seem to like copyright at all:He gave the story of what had happened when then-Yugoslavia was under an international embargo in 1990-1995.I'd love to learn more about what happened in Serbia during that time and what happened in the aftermath as well, because I think it would be quite educational and useful in understanding some of the debates on these issues. Does anyone have any pointers to publications or people who can share more info?
Yugoslavia was allowed to import food, medicine, all the basic necessities of life, but not luxury items. Copies of digitized works counted as luxury items that weren't allowed. Importing copies of bitpatterns was not permitted, stupidly enough. It turns out, therefore, that this was not a problem. The people living there could make do themselves, copying themselves. It showed on a country-wide scale just how unnecessary the copyright monopoly is -- not just to academics studying the situation, but to the very people, too.
The result was that it was seen as a step backwards to start using Creative Commons in Serbia. It was perceived as unnecessarily restrictive and, well, unnecessary. Later, the copyright industry has been aggressive in Serbia just like everywhere else, but they have a serious uphill battle for hearts and minds.
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Filed Under: copyright, creative commons, serbia
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WIPO and Kosovo
Link
I would gander that perhaps the Kosovo War might have had a few things to do with the change.
Clinton did authorize the bombing of a pharmaceutical company during Milosevic's reign, and with 1998 being the year of the DMCA, it's not far-fetched to believe that industry didn't steamroll over Serbia during those 3 years.
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Re: WIPO and Kosovo
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Looks like it's time for the U.S. government to start helping them write their laws.
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Even an animal knows that freedom is
If you want security, get arrested, go to prison. They will cloth you, feed you and give you medical care. You will be relatively safe from the everyday worries.
Safety or Freedom.
I choose freedom.
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Re: Even an animal knows that freedom is
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And it was everywhere - in every shop and every kiosk on every street. You can't flood a society with something so ubiquitous (and so inexpensive) for decades and suddenly expect the entire society to one day turn around and shun pirated software as 'wrong.' Every single person there who's touched a computer in the last 20 years has used (or is now using) pirated software.
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Completely inappropriate post
150 000 people dead, ethnic cleansing etc.
N u r curious about copyright in that period ?
How about the copyright of human beings ?
What an ignorant narrow minded American u are
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Re: Completely inappropriate post
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Anyone have a video of Falkvinge's speech
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{shudder}
Luckily, Serbian attitudes to copyright clear my conscience of having "pirated" that film in protest (Westminster Council blocked my scheduled viewing of the film at Frightfest in London last year, and it's official release is heavily cut in the UK - I just downloaded it uncut instead).
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