Panel 3: DIY Media: The Intellectual Property Dilemma

Moderator: Jennifer Urban
Panelists: Yochai Benkler, Lawrence Lessig, Fred von Lohmann

New technologies and Internet distribution are allowing society to experience an explosion of creative works made by ordinary people, youth, and social groups traditionally excluded from the mainstream art and media world. The creative cultural production is astounding. Yet, at times, it exists uncomfortably, or clashes outright, with intellectual property laws that are complex, arcane and geared toward traditional media players and predigital media. Are the legal risks of DIY media--copyright infringement from remix and appropriation, aggressive licensing demands by rightsholders, and the like--silencing vibrant voices? On the other side, can intellectual property, always intended as an incentive for production, work for DIY artists? These issues and others will be discussed by a panel of the world's most thoughtful and prescient IP experts: Professor Yochai Benkler of Harvard Law School; Stanford Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons; and Fred von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Jennifer Urban of the USC Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic will moderate.

"24/7: A DIY Video Summit"
http://www.video24-7.org/
February 8-10, 2008
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Institute for Multimedia Literacy
School of Cinematic Arts

Registration:
http://diy.video24-7.org/2008/01/23/registration-is-nearly-full/