Intelligence Squared Debates: Copyright is Dead, Long Live the Pirates

In this debate, chaired by Wheeler Centre director Michael Williams, our speakers consider the obstacles and opportunities of copyright today – and tomorrow. With panellists Angela Daly, Simon Groth, Suelette Dreyfus, Michael Fraser, Lori Flekser and Elmo Keep.

The digital revolution is counter-intuitive to copyright. Technological change is moving too fast for adequate laws to be implemented – and for affected industries to keep pace.

The bottom is dropping out of the Hollywood box office, while television stations are being hammered by free-falling ratings for blockbuster shows (think: Homeland). We’re watching in droves, but many of us are not paying for what we watch, and we’re too impatient to wait for traditional delivery systems.

Meanwhile, in book publishing, the e-revolution is seeing the boom of digital publishing – and pirated books. Will it go the way of the music industry?

With such open access to information these days, how do we know where one person’s work ends and another begins? Is the very idea of intellectual property becoming a nonsense – or is it too important to give up on, for the continuing functioning of the arts and the sciences? And – the million-dollar question – how can we ensure creativity continues to pay?

Видео Intelligence Squared Debates: Copyright is Dead, Long Live the Pirates канала WheelerCentre