Watching the debate about DRM run and run, I thought that since laws are usually passed to reflect the will of the people (rather that as normally seems to be the case, entrenched businesses or inspired politicians) it might be kind of helpful to create a kind of piracy index to reflect what the public think is piracy and what isn’t.

So if you could spare a bit of time, grant me the IPR in this blog and the database rights (hey, come on, we are a DRM business) then the answers to the following questions (names and addresses will be withheld from all other parties without properly granted search warrants, under the Data Protection Act of the United Kingdom) the results could be a good barometer of what the law should say.

Okay, so here we go.  The questions are arranged in groups broadly according to the type of Copyright that a work receives. 

The ‘answer’ to each question is either:

1 YES – I truly believe there is the right to do this
2 MAYBE – this can be done, but only if I give up MY copy and any rights I have if I give this to another person
3 NO – I do not believe this is legal or ethical

So here we go.

A Computer software

A1 I can copy Microsoft’s operating system and give it away or sell it on to anyone else I choose
A2 I can copy Sun’s operating system and give it away to anyone I choose
A3 I can copy SAP’s software and give it away or sell it on to anyone else I choose
A4 I can copy an office system (word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, collaboration) and give it away or sell it on to anyone I choose
A5 I make my living from writing and selling software and believe my customers should be able to copy my software and give it away or sell it on to anyone they choose

B Books

B1 I can copy a book off a web site or CD-ROM collection and give it away or sell it on to anyone I choose
B2 I can copy the source program of any software and give it away or sell it on to anyone I choose
B3 I can make copies of sheet music and give them away or sell them on to anyone I choose
B4 I can buy a paperback, photocopy it and give it away or sell it on to anyone I choose
B5 I write for my living and believe that my customers should be able to copy my work and give it away or sell it on to anyone they choose.

C Pictures and photographs

C1 I can copy any picture on the web and give it away or sell it on to anyone I choose
C2 I can buy an oil painting, make a copy of it and give it away or sell it on to anyone I choose
C3 I can buy a photograph and make copies of it and given them away or sell them on to anyone I choose
C4 I can buy a fine art print, make copies of it and give them away or sell them on to anyone I choose
C5 I am a professional photographer and believe that my customers should be able to copy my wedding photographs and give them away to anyone they choose

D Music

D1 I can copy a music track I have bought and give it away or sell it on to anyone I choose
D2 I can copy a broadcast music piece and give it away or sell it on to anyone I choose
D3 I can copy music I borrowed from a friend or a stranger and give it away or sell it on to anyone I choose
D4 I make my living from being paid for live concerts so I don’t mind if anyone copies a small number of my pieces and give them away or sell them on to anyone they choose because it’s good PR for my paying work
D5 I make my living selling my recorded music and believe my customers should be able to copy my work and give it away or sell it on to anyone they choose

We could do a few more, but it will not alter the results.

So what is piracy.  Well, ahead of the results – please get these filled in and sent back to us – let us predict the outturn.  Apart from in music, the only people who don’t think copying is good are those who make their livings by creating work. 

Some people will try to claim that software writers can make a good living out of providing support for work given away free, but there are currently no convincing demonstrations of their economic model and plenty examples of success where software is sold.  And nobody has yet figured out how to sell a service contract for a book.

Music gives us a different economic model, which does not appear to occur elsewhere.  The music industry has two economic models – income by selling recordings and income from live performance (a model simply not available to our other groups).

I remember Jimmy Edwards, the legendary 1970’s comic, refusing to appear on more television.  His reason?  If he told a joke on television everyone had heard it and it could not be used again.  If he told a joke live on stage, he could tell it again in every other city in the land and it was still new to each audience.

So it depends on how a musician/performer is expecting to make their living as to the best economic model for them.  But that economic model does not fit other groups, so any arguments you see that musical performers think free copying is important apply only to the set of musicians for whom publicity gaining is more important than copy control.  But if they started to see more money from record sales I bet they’d change to the other model.

So we can now predict the results.  Purchasers (or recipients) of other people’s Copyright are quite happy about copying it and distributing it either free or at a profit to them.  Copyright owners don’t agree, but they wouldn’t, would they?