Whistle while you work? Copyright, education, and the 'man in the street'

Abstract

In a globalised world which purports to encourage the rapid dissemination of information and knowledge there is an increasing use of constraints which set up limitations and boundaries, and often silences many in the so-called ‘knowledge society’. This paper questions the fairness and effectiveness of copyright law as well as the coherence of the Intellectual Property doctrine that motivates it. We illustrate with aspects of music, but our remarks apply to copyright everywhere.

We will argue that any Copyright Act unfairly imposes an arbitrary boundary between the activities it protects and those it does not. We will also argue that those who create and develop bear a parental, not proprietary, relationship to their output and cast doubt on the notion of ownership as a creative and intellectual pursuit. In viewing education as a significant casualty of draconian copyright practices, our arguments seek to empower those whom it most effects, both creator and perpetuator.