The hidden demography of new media ethics

Abstract

The early years of the twenty-first century have been characterized by an explosion of new 'configurable' cultural forms and practices, such as mashups, remixes and machinima, enabled by rapidly proliferating global digital network technologies. These new cultural forms blur the distinctions between traditional production and consumption and have come increasingly into contrast with the letter of copyright law. In the absence of functionally relevant economic and legal frameworks, communities around the globe have developed their own ethical criteria to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate configurable practices. In the present article, the authors share data from surveys fielded in 2006 and 2010, suggesting that as these practices have become more prevalent, the ethical frameworks people employ to make sense of them have continued to proliferate and mature. Finally, we analyze the demographic profiles of respondents applying each ethical framework, revealing hidden national, class and ethnic distinctions underpinning the disparate value systems that have been employed to make sense of these new practices.

Defining authorship in user-generated content: Copyright struggles in The Game of Thrones

“…They fail to represent the full spectrum of the debate about control over cultural content, not only by naturalizing proprietary relations over content, as opposed to ideas and practices of gift economies (Litman, 2004). They also present innovative practices by users that are widespread across the world and generations (Latonero and Sinnreich, 2014) under a light of criminalization and wrong-doing. Industry campaigns aim to instil a sense of fear and guilt among users as a countering mechanism to practices that disregard copyright control.…”

“…Law and the industry, situate the 'author' within the notional context of the individual, rather than of a multilevel social process (Woodmansee, 1992). This dominant understanding of authorship is central in content legislation (Latonero & Sinnreich, 2014). However, Tushnet (2007Tushnet ( , 2010 argues that there is an urgent need to address the intersecting area of industry-led and fan-based content production, as 'fanworks offer a working model of hybridity in creative production, one the law would do well to recognize' (Tushnet, 2010:10).…”

Configurable Culture in Wealthy and Developing Markets: A Comparative Cross-National Perspective

“…A central aspect of this project has been the collection and analysis of empirical data regarding the awareness, consumption, engagement and opinions of everyday Internet users regarding new cultural forms and practices such as mashups, remixes and video game mods, as well as the role of demographics and other sociocultural factors in shaping these trends. My colleagues and I have found that attributes of respondents, such as age, income, education level, ethnicity and nationality, play a measurable role in shaping how individuals adopt configurable cultures, interact with online distribution platforms and evaluate the ethics of those behaviors and interactions (Sinnreich et al 2009;Latonero and Sinnreich 2014).…”