open source everything?

A little over a year after Nina Paley put out "Sita Sings the Blues" with some fanfare based on her open culture distribution plan, the conversation about radical changes to the U.S. copyright regime are still underway--and if anything, are heating up.

 

As almost every facet of the entertainment industry continues to scramble to change business models and plans, there seems to be little patience to actually confront the open culture movement and talk about how to reach the common ground between concepts of artistic freedom, intellectual property protection and profitability. The ABA is gently considering it in a short piece about "Sita..." HERE.

At a panel discussion last week I mentioned the fact that I'm urging independent filmmaker clients to explore alternative financing for their projects (e.g. Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, etc.) as well as ways to recoup while embracing new distribution models.  A fellow attorney in the audience asked me if any of these clients were making money on "alternative" and "new" models, and I had to respond that the jury is still out.  But by no means is the case closed, and that's enough to continue encouraging innovation.

So should we crack open the copyright framework and adopt an open culture and take some of the barriers to entry down for filmakers/authors/musicians?  Is it too slippery a slope?