University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The impact of new communications technology on filmed-entertainment copyrights

Bettig, Ronald Valentin

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/23668

Description

Title
The impact of new communications technology on filmed-entertainment copyrights
Author(s)
Bettig, Ronald Valentin
Issue Date
1989
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Guback, Thomas
Department of Study
  • Law
  • Mass Communications
  • Information Science
Discipline
  • Law
  • Mass Communications
  • Information Science
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Law
  • Mass Communications
  • Information Science
Language
eng
Abstract
  • This dissertation examines the impact of new communications technology on the filmed-entertainment industry's copyright system. The development and deployment of new means of reproducing and distributing filmed-entertainment, such as cable television and videocassette recorders (VCRs), produced challenges to the traditional marketing practices of the U.S. filmed-entertainment industry. These challenges centered on the question of who should benefit from the new forms and uses of filmed-entertainment that the technologies generated. The filmed-entertainment industry responded to the new technologies with various efforts to protect and extend its copyrights. These efforts also involved the active participation of the U.S. government. Accordingly, the government's role is of central interest in this work.
  • The dissertation begins with a critical review of the history and philosophy of copyright. Then, the ways in which the filmed-entertainment industry and government responded to the copyright challenge are analyzed using theoretical tools drawn from radical political economy, the economics of information, instrumental and structural theories of the state, and critical legal studies. These tools are applied in four case studies: (1) the efforts of the filmed-entertainment industry to secure a cable retransmission right in the U.S.; (2) the question of home taping of broadcasts on VCRs; (3) the international anti-videocassette piracy campaign; and, (4) the efforts of the U.S. filmed-entertainment industry to secure a cable retransmission right in Canadian law. These case studies reveal that copyright is essential to maintaining capitalist ownership of artistic and intellectual creativity; that it contributes to the increasing concentration of mass media ownership; and, that it therefore preserves undemocratic forms of access to and participation in artistic and intellectual creativity. In light of these findings, the author feels that copyright ought to be placed at the center of communication and information policy discussions at both the national and international levels.
Type of Resource
text
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/23668
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1989 Bettig, Ronald Valentin

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