Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on December 14, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>This essay analyzes the market for entertainment software by identifying and explain the products typical properties, in addition i clarifies the behavior of consumers and producers. One of the most important property related to software is the ease with which it can be reproduced. When such reproduction is done illicit it´s called piracy. The software industry often claims that piracy leads to big losses for the companies as well as in welfare, the essay clarifies that this doesn´t has to be the case. On the contrary the possibility to cheap production and distribution may lead to an increased welfare. The paper questions todays copyright law and suggests that a different legislation would lead to an increase in welfare.</p>

This paper analyzes the visions, schemas, and vocabularies of prominent rights expression languages, including Creative Commons, METS, ODRL, and MPEG-21. The paper extends Michel Callon’s sociological insight that all forms of human agency are multiple and diverse. Callon argues, in the context of economic sociology, that one must constantly decide between a strategy emphasizing “framing” as the norm with “overflows” treated as leaks, or conversely a strategy accepting “overflows” as the norm with “framing” as inherently imperfect. Callon’s categories are extended, through a modeling exercise, to the classification of current metadata schemes. The analysis suggests that metadata developers should explore what semantic choices and strictures are left out of metadata schemes, as well as those that are included. Such a thought exercise is especially useful in distinguishing areas suited for XML rights markup extensions.

This essay analyzes the market for entertainment software by identifying and explain the products typical properties, in addition i clarifies the behavior of consumers and producers. One of the most important property related to software is the ease with which it can be reproduced. When such reproduction is done illicit it´s called piracy. The software industry often claims that piracy leads to big losses for the companies as well as in welfare, the essay clarifies that this doesn´t has to be the case. On the contrary the possibility to cheap production and distribution may lead to an increased welfare. The paper questions todays copyright law and suggests that a different legislation would lead to an increase in welfare.

Cultural policy theory operates on a division between producers and the public. Dualisms, such as producer/consumer – or, in more nuanced circles, the triadic relationship of consumer/producer/owner – have had a structuring effect on the way in which we envision cultural policy theories. At its core, the producer/consumer dualism implies subjectivities – that is to say that it defines positions in relationships between socio-political actors/actresses. At the governmental level, such clear-cut subject positions are perceptible beyond theories, entering into the actual practice of policy-making to the point where certain policies structure the notion of the public (or consumers), and the producers and/or owners. Copyright law, for instance, represents a good example of such an ideational construct. As a form of cultural policy, copyright law seeks to define the rights of producers with regards to their productions. Consequently, this thesis aims at exploring the forms of agency that develop and challenge both the practice and theoretical constructs of cultural policy. Two aspects command us to question anew these boundaries, one based on contemporary social and technical transformations (the rise of the digital age), and one based on cultural practice (in this case, those of fans and fandoms).Borrowing from theories of cultural studies and Foucauldian approaches to discourse analysis, this thesis explored the emerging discourses surrounding fans and their use of copyrighted material via the internet. Putting emphasis on three fandoms that have had marked histories of fan activism and fan production via the use of copyrighted material – Star Trek, Firefly, and Harry Potter – this paper investigated fans’ use of copyrighted material in developing fan cultures and as a vehicle for their discursive practices. These cases illustrate how fans have challenged the established repertoires of subjects in cultural policy (making and theory), and how their form of agency represents an interesting case of resistance to the rise of the cultural industries conception of cultural policy.

The purpose of my research is to examine the music industry from both the perspective of a musician and a lawyer, and draw real conclusions regarding where the music industry is heading in the 21st century. Digital technologies are overhauling the way in which musicians, record labels, and other industry professionals make a living, and my goal is to decipher what these changes mean in the long term. In light of this transformation, my research investigates whether musicians still need record labels in the digital era, and what role copyright law will continue to have in this new model.<p> The method of research for my thesis was slightly atypical. While I utilized any textbook and scholarly journal that was available on the topic, much of my most valuable research came in the form of personal interviews with some of the biggest players in the music industry, as well as various articles and studies found online.<p> My thesis argues that the roles played by artists and record labels have completely changed in the last five years, and the parties that will find success on either side of the bargaining table will be those most appreciative of and adaptive to this change. Directly related to this is the changing face of copyright in the music industry. My thesis argues that while copyright used to provide massive value from a single source in the short term, it now generates smaller amounts of value from an infinite array of sources, in the long term. The significance of this finding cannot be understated, for both artists and their investors. In this way, my research aims to be equally significant and accessible to musicians, industry professionals, and academics.

In December of 2010, Costco v. Omega came down from the Supreme Court. The Switzerland-based watchmaker Omega sold Seamaster Collection watches, which were affixed with its copyrighted logo, in the United States as well as in foreign markets. Omega priced watches in the United States market higher than elsewhere. Costco obtained Omega’s watches from a third party that had purchased the watches abroad, then sold them at its membership warehouses for cheaper prices than authorized Omega dealers in the United States. Consequently, Omega sued Costco for copyright infringement. Costco pursued a defense based on the first sale doctrine in response. While from a legal perspective the case was a copyright dispute, this categorization does not make sense from an economic view. Rather, the application of economic models reveals that the core issue in Costco centers about price discrimination, not copyright. This thesis uses a law and economics framework to analyze the facts of and the decision in Costco to determine whether the outcome was welfare maximizing and to assess the implications that the case will have on copyright law in the future.

Cultural policy theory operates on a division between producers and the public. Dualisms, such as producer/consumer – or, in more nuanced circles, the triadic relationship of consumer/producer/owner – have had a structuring effect on the way in which we envision cultural policy theories. At its core, the producer/consumer dualism implies subjectivities – that is to say that it defines positions in relationships between socio-political actors/actresses. At the governmental level, such clear-cut subject positions are perceptible beyond theories, entering into the actual practice of policy-making to the point where certain policies structure the notion of the public (or consumers), and the producers and/or owners. Copyright law, for instance, represents a good example of such an ideational construct. As a form of cultural policy, copyright law seeks to define the rights of producers with regards to their productions. Consequently, this thesis aims at exploring the forms of agency that develop and challenge both the practice and theoretical constructs of cultural policy. Two aspects command us to question anew these boundaries, one based on contemporary social and technical transformations (the rise of the digital age), and one based on cultural practice (in this case, those of fans and fandoms).Borrowing from theories of cultural studies and Foucauldian approaches to discourse analysis, this thesis explored the emerging discourses surrounding fans and their use of copyrighted material via the internet. Putting emphasis on three fandoms that have had marked histories of fan activism and fan production via the use of copyrighted material – Star Trek, Firefly, and Harry Potter – this paper investigated fans’ use of copyrighted material in developing fan cultures and as a vehicle for their discursive practices. These cases illustrate how fans have challenged the established repertoires of subjects in cultural policy (making and theory), and how their form of agency represents an interesting case of resistance to the rise of the cultural industries conception of cultural policy.

The purpose of my research is to examine the music industry from both the perspective of a musician and a lawyer, and draw real conclusions regarding where the music industry is heading in the 21st century. Digital technologies are overhauling the way in which musicians, record labels, and other industry professionals make a living, and my goal is to decipher what these changes mean in the long term. In light of this transformation, my research investigates whether musicians still need record labels in the digital era, and what role copyright law will continue to have in this new model.<p> The method of research for my thesis was slightly atypical. While I utilized any textbook and scholarly journal that was available on the topic, much of my most valuable research came in the form of personal interviews with some of the biggest players in the music industry, as well as various articles and studies found online.<p> My thesis argues that the roles played by artists and record labels have completely changed in the last five years, and the parties that will find success on either side of the bargaining table will be those most appreciative of and adaptive to this change. Directly related to this is the changing face of copyright in the music industry. My thesis argues that while copyright used to provide massive value from a single source in the short term, it now generates smaller amounts of value from an infinite array of sources, in the long term. The significance of this finding cannot be understated, for both artists and their investors. In this way, my research aims to be equally significant and accessible to musicians, industry professionals, and academics.

Since 1997, ¡§Copyright Intermediary Organization ACT¡¨ has been implemented; seven collective management organizations emerged one after another. But they had a hard time promoting their business. Their earnings are far less than the incomes of other developed nations. What adversity are the collective management organizations in Taiwan faced with? What kind of reasons causes the collective management organizations to develop so slowly? In view of all these, this thesis is conducting a research and survey on the operation of the collective management organzitions in Taiwan. Besides probing into the reasons that result in the sluggish development of the collective management organizations through the analysis of quantification and profound interview, this thesis also provides the key points of constructing the system of copyright collective management in Taiwan and the framework of an integrating website platform for copyright collective management to offer a reference for the future development of integrating the collective management organizations in Taiwan. This thesis is divided into five chapters to explore the operating pattern of copyright collective management in Taiwan. The first chapter is introduction, which describes the research background, research motivation, and the destination of this study. Afterwards, it traces back to the related historical material of copyright collective management organizations and offers study methods, the scope and limitation of research, the framework of research, and the arrangement of chapters. The second chapter explores the ideal system of the collective management, starting from the ideal goal of the collective management to the direction of empirical operation of copyright collective management organization and finally pointing out the application of e-commerce and website platform. The third chapter mainly narrates the planned procedures and content of ¡§profound interview¡¨ and ¡§five municipacity copyright cognition inspections.¡¨ The fourth chapter follows the research fruit of the third chapter. It is about the result of interview and inspection. By means of it, the outline of the present development of the collective management system in Taiwan is revealed. The fifth chapter put forth the discovery of this research and a conclusion and some subsequent research suggestions.