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Copyright isn’t dead just because we’re not willing to let it regulate us

Here's a podcast of my last Guardian column, Copyright isn't dead just because we're not willing to let it regulate us:

The first time I ever heard someone declare the death of copyright, it wasn't a dreadlocked GNU/Linux hacker or a cyberpunk in mirror shades: it was a music executive, circa 1999, responding to the launch of Napster.

I thought he was wrong then and I think he's wrong now — as is everyone else who's declared copyright to be dead.

The problem is in the name: copyright. The Statute of Anne and other early copyright rules concerned themselves with verbatim copying because copying was the only industrial activity associated with creative expression at the time. There were lots of crafts associated with culture, of course, – performing music, plays and dance, painting pictures, and so on – but these weren't industrial activities.

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John Taylor Williams is a full-time self-employed audio engineer, producer, composer, and sound designer. In his free time, he makes beer, jewelry, odd musical instruments and furniture. He likes to meditate, to read and to cook.

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