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I would like to take this opportunity to introduce another feature of the Rights Office [2](RO) system. Maybe my article should have been subtitled ‘Competing with Free’ because all content in the RO system has the ability to compete with ‘free’, illegally copied, or unmarked content on an equal footing. RO identified content is able to do this because there is no ‘cost’ to using properly identified content and it is never illegal to hold identified content no matter how it was obtained. This situation means that the RO system could be introduced gradually into markets that don’t traditionally support strong copyright, such as China, with the advantage that identified works would gradually become more prevalent even if unremunerated trading continued to take place. A number of advantages follow from this business model:

1) Any works returning to countries with strong copyright would be identified and hence could enter their systems with the potential that the rights holder will be rewarded at some date and at least the author will be acknowledged.
2) As the transition country gradually recognises copyright, as its artists and other users recognise the benefits of rewarding creative effort, the system will already be in place to increasingly implement monetary contributions and trade.
3) At first, small traders who currently make a living by selling tape and disk copies could just continue with digital copies but encouraged to own the identity of their master copy in the RO system which would allow them to distribute legal copies even if not directly rewarding the artist. Slowly consumers can be encouraged to buy their own identified copies where the artist is rewarded. This could be a mechanism for these small traders to transition into the legal market.
4) As rewarding the author becomes accepted, stronger legal support can be applied to the use of works in the RO system.
5) “Greater transparency and accountability within China’s group collection agencies, as well as among internet service providers and search engines will also be crucial to realising the potential of China’s copyright industries. The availability of illegal online content cannot be controlled without such changes.” The use of distributed Rights Offices representing authors, distributors, and consumers alike could aid the transition to transparent regulation.

The overall advantage of RO is that copyright can be introduced gradually at a pace that suites the community while all the time introducing the system and the rules. DRM solutions tend to be all or nothing, all the technology and content is DRMed or else the content is illegal. Under Rights Office even a copy of an analogue tape traded on the streets could be legally part of the system.

Links:

[1] http://www.indicare.org/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=141

[2] http://www.indicare.org/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=133