FRAMING DIGITAL 'PIRACY' Piracy and anti-piracy in Italy from 1988 to the present: discursive strategies, forms of consumption and cultural policies

FRAMING DIGITAL 'PIRACY' Piracy and anti-piracy in Italy from 1988 to the present:

discursive strategies, forms of consumption and cultural policies

Research project – Ca’ Foscari University of VeniceDecember 2014 - May 2016

Premises / 1

1. a. In addition to having profoundly changed film consumption and reception in recent years, ‘digital piracy’ (a label under which common perception still tends to mix different commercial and non-commercial practices) has aroused many important economic and legal issues with respect to the business models developed by cultural industries and the protection of authors’ and consumers’ rights.

Premises / 2

1. b. Scholarly literature has shown how anti-piracy campaigns and institutional communication produced by the content industries play a fundamental role in shaping the interpretive frame through which we are used to think of and deal with the digital piracy issue (cinema, music, software) nowadays.

Anti-piracy campaigns and institutional communication

•Reports and papers;

•Websites;

•Press releases;

•Statistics and quantitative surveys;

•Educational resources;

•Public campaigns (especially ads);

•…

>> Scholarly literature

Currah A. (2006): Hollywood versus the Internet: The Media and Entertainment Industries in a Digital and Networked Economy, Journal of Economic Geography, 6, pp. 439-468.Gates K. (2006): Will Work for Copyrights: The Cultural Policy of Anti-piracy Campaigns, Social Semiotics, 16:1, 57-73.Yar M. (2008): The Rhetorics and Myths of Anti-piracy Campaigns: Criminalization, Moral Pedagogy and Capitalist Property Relations in the Classroom, New Media Society, 10:4, pp. 605-623.Johns A. (2009): Piracy. The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates, Chicago-London: The University of Chicago Press.Mirghani S. (2011): The War on Piracy: Analyzing the Discursive Battles of Corporate and Government-Sponsored Anti-Piracy Media Campaigns, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 28:2, pp. 113-134.Lobato R. (2012): Shadow Economies of Cinema: Mapping Informal Film Distribution, London: BFI-Palgrave.Parkes, M. (2013): Making plans for Nigel: The Industry Trust and film piracy management in the United Kingdom, Convergence, 19:1, pp. 25-43.

>> … and the Italian context?

Main objective

The research project aims to investigate, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the main features of institutional anti-piracy communication in Italy from 1988 to the present, with particular reference to the audiovisual sector, but without neglecting the clear connections with the music and software industry.

Analyzing such a discourse and comparing it with the definitions of the issue provided by other players (such as press, legislative bodies, distribution platforms and Internet providers, consumers associations) is considered as a critical step to understand how the phenomenon is socially ‘constructed’ and perceived in its different dimensions (economic, legal, cultural, social, aesthetic) and to conceive, within a framework that goes beyond the current simplistic polarizations (think of the 'copyright wars'), financial and legislative actions to support cultural production and the access to culture.

Complementary objectives

The project also aims to:

1. Provide a map and a qualitative analysis of the main forms of film circulation and film consumption (online distribution and file sharing), with particular attention to the Italian context, innovative business models and participatory culture (on demand culture);

2. Promote national and international research and debate on the issues of digital piracy in its various dimensions, of the protection of the rights related to cultural products and the right of access to culture, of the innovation in consumption and business models.

FREE EST

SVOD

TVOD

MYmovies

Sky onlineInfinity

Rai Cinema Channel

iTunes Google Play

>> BitTorrent + torrent sites>> Cyberlocker + linking sites

Space-time coordinates

1988: foundation of FAPAV Federation against Audiovisual Piracy

2013: FAPAV significantly changes its name in ‘Federation for the Protection of Audiovisual and Multimedia Content’;

AGCOM approved the new ‘Regulation about copyright protection in electronic communications network’;

European Commission launched a ‘Public Consultation on the review of the EU copyright rules’ .

Investigation field

In order to determine the actors involved in the investigation, a particular attention will be paid to companies and associations that participated in the Public Consultations launched by AGCOM (2010; 2011; 2013), and more precisely:

AESVI; AGPCI; AIIP; ANICA; ANVI; BSA; APT; Confindustria Cultura; Confindustria SIT; Nuovo IMAIE; ADICONSUM; Agorà Digitale; Altroconsumo; Assonet; Assoprovider; AIE; ASSTEL; Movimento Scambio Etico; FAPAV; FEM; FEMI; ITSRIGHT; SACT; SCF; SIAE; UNIVIDEO; Federazione degli Autori; FIMI.

Expected outcomes

1. Research report, that will be made available online and will be also presented and discussed in a public event (Round Table) organized in collaboration with the players involved in the investigation (May 2016). The round table will be addressed in particular to the urban context in which the university operates.

2. International Conference on selected topics included in the Project’s wider scope (May 2016);

3. Publications. International conference Proceedings (no later than May 2017).

Some possible branches of research

Problematization of the concepts of ‘intellectual property defense industry’ and ‘anti-piracy industries’; Metaphors of anti-piracy discourse / ‘piracy’ as a metaphor; The role played by statistics and quantitative surveys in anti-piracy communication; Conceptual shifts and overlappings: the role of oppositions such as ‘authentic vs fake’, ‘legal vs illegal’, ‘originality vs plagiarism’ in anti-piracy discourse; The relationships between IP, piracy and creativity; Forms of ‘outsourcing’ of the activity of copyright enforcement: educational materials for teachers and students; Online film distribution: critical aspects and benefits, business models, connected viewing, on demand culture; Online film distribution: the relationship between the cultural right to the safeguard of IP and the cultural right to access to culture.

For more information please contact: Dr. Valentina Re

email: [email protected] [email protected]

https://unilink.academia.edu/ValentinaRe

… Thank you for your attention!