The Battle against Virtual Pirates: Promoting or Destroying Creativity? by Philip Anthony Nixon LL.B. (Hons.) A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the requirements for the degree of LLM by Research at the University of Central Lancashire June 2014 The Battle Against Virtual Pirates: Promoting or Destroying Creativity? Abstract The aim of this thesis is to provide an understanding of how copyright law, with specific relation to internet piracy, affects musical creativity and the fulfilment of creative potential. This thesis focuses on the operation of copyright law with regards to musical works, and will focus on musical creativity specifically. Whilst this thesis is not concerned with specific business models and ‘traditional economics’, there is much discussion around creative incentivisation and the impact this has on creativity. Following an in-depth look into the underlying philosophies and justifications behind copyright law, the accepted viewpoint throughout this thesis is that copyright law seeks to promote creativity through providing strong economic laws to incentivise artists into creating musical works. Western societies across the world are now inextricably linked with technology and the internet, and therefore it is necessary to understand what affect strengthening copyright law will have to the potential of creative development. To understand what impact the increasing trend to legislate against those committing online copyright infringement will have on creativity firstly requires an analysis of the UKs copyright system in comparison to other countries, as well as exploring the effectiveness of our domestic legislation against internet piracy. After acquiring this understanding, there then follows an investigation into creativity at a cognitive level. By using inferences from existing psychological research into our creative minds, and by using the findings of two qualitative interviews that have been carried out with musical artists, it is possible to form a hypothesis on this subject: namely that strengthened copyright laws do not promote creativity, and in fact actually significantly hinder the process of creative development. Combining this hypothesis with the collected research and philosophical understandings referenced throughout this thesis, ideas for reform are proposed, namely that there needs to be a change in the philosophy of copyright protection and enforcement 1 The Battle Against Virtual Pirates: Promoting or Destroying Creativity? to a more utilitarian stance, and that it is necessary to allow for greater access to musical works through either a private use exception and/or through the provision of educational music licenses through streaming platforms such as Spotify. 2 The Battle Against Virtual Pirates: Promoting or Destroying Creativity? Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 1 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1 – Introduction ................................................................................................... 6 Definition of terms ..................................................................................................... 7 The Issues .................................................................................................................. 9 Methodology ............................................................................................................ 10 Chapter 2: A brief history of file-sharing ........................................................................ 13 The digital revolution............................................................................................... 14 Chapter 3 – The Philosophy of Copyright ...................................................................... 19 Establishment ........................................................................................................... 21 Philosophical Justifications...................................................................................... 23 Chapter 4 – The current laws preventing copyright infringement and Internet piracy ... 38 Provisions for copyright protection under the CDPA 1988 ..................................... 39 Digital Economy Act 2010 ...................................................................................... 45 The European Influence ........................................................................................... 48 ‘Droit d’auteur’ and HADOPI ................................................................................. 51 Chapter 5 – The effectiveness of the current laws surrounding the prevention of Internet piracy and an analysis of the proposed strengthening of online copyright protection .... 56 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 ............................................................... 57 Digital Economy Act 2010, Loi HADOPI and Human Rights................................ 59 Future Plans of Copyright Enforcement .................................................................. 72 Chapter 6 – The Creativity Issue ..................................................................................... 76 Creativity as a cognitive concept – What effects creativity? ................................... 78 Creativity in practice ................................................................................................ 90 Maximising Creativity – Nature, Nurture & Metacognition ................................. 100 Promoting creativity through reform ..................................................................... 103 Chapter 7 – Conclusion ................................................................................................. 110 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 110 Findings ................................................................................................................. 110 Implications & Future Research ............................................................................ 115 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 118 Books ..................................................................................................................... 118 3 The Battle Against Virtual Pirates: Promoting or Destroying Creativity? Cases ...................................................................................................................... 119 Dictionaries ............................................................................................................ 120 Encyclopaedias ...................................................................................................... 120 European and International directives and/or treaties........................................... 120 Journals .................................................................................................................. 120 Hansard Reports ..................................................................................................... 122 Newspapers ............................................................................................................ 122 Statutes ................................................................................................................... 122 International Constitutions and Codes ................................................................... 122 Websites and web resources .................................................................................. 123 4 The Battle Against Virtual Pirates: Promoting or Destroying Creativity? Acknowledgements I would like to place on record my thanks to my supervisory team, Susan Fletcher and Michael Doherty, who have been extremely helpful and understanding throughout the process. Without their help, their patience and their inspiration, this research would not have been possible. I would also like to thank Professor Linden Ball, who took the time to help with the development of my ideas on creativity. I would also like to thank my family for their support and their encouragement to keep going when circumstances became difficult, as well as my partner Sophie Meek, whose eternal patience and humour have helped guide me through even the darkest times during this research. Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to my circle of close friends, who have as of late been heavily neglected by me in favour of completing this research. 5 The Battle Against Virtual Pirates: Promoting or Destroying Creativity? Chapter 1 – Introduction The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the impact on creativity of copyright law’s responses to the increasing amount of online piracy of music. Instead of focusing on the economic impact of piracy on the creative industries, specifically the music industry, this thesis aims to draw on existing research into the creative mind with the aim of investigating the impact of the legal system in influencing a person’s maximisation of their creative potential. It is important at this stage to state that within the scope of this thesis, the research and any recommendations proposed will be made solely with regards to music. To investigate the impact of the legal system’s responses to piracy within each individual creative industry that relies on copyright would be too