Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016 - 2017

Clearing the Hurdles

A creative professional often sees the high value in free exposure and publicity versus the copyright implications in having masses of people share and copy their creative works.

platforms available to distribute content over the Internet. Communication technology haswidened the pool of willing buyers to anyone who can send that product, sometimes within seconds of being paid for. Digital goods such asmovies, photographs, music and even website design have become in- demand commodities which could be provided by anyone and instantly transferred to cellular phones and smart televisions alike. Keeping in mind that, by law, a creative professional has the exclusive rights to decipher when and where his or her copyright work is used, the Internet is not exactly themost reliable space for protection of IP overall. For those creative professionals who have no issue with giving more liberal access to their works, there are platforms such as the Free Music Archive (freemusicarhive.org) and SoundCloud (soundcloud.com) where you agree to a Creative Commons licence, which can allow for varying levels of public access to the work based on the creative professional’s choice. However, for those who are using the Internet as a direct income earner fromcopyright transactions, unregulated distribution and access to the public of the work is equivalent to giving quality goods away for free. Enforcement of action against infringements over the Internet is particularly

and to object to derogatory treatment of the work. Thesevaluablerightsarethesubjectofnegotiations, and the quality of the work along with the desires of the parties involved are what guide the earnings, terms and conditions of the agreement. Digital Distribution Not to complicate matters further, but a negotiation, as it is implied here, may not be with a person, since posting videos and other copyright works on platforms such as YouTube, iTunes and Facebook are also done under licence. Simply by being a user of these platforms, you have agreed to the terms and conditions which have strong provisions on IP ownership and use. A creative professional often sees the high value in free exposure and publicity versus the copyright implications in havingmasses of people share and copy their creative works. There are simple tools and tricks whichminimise the devaluation of the work on the Internet; for example, technological protection measures (TPMs) which encrypt and block unauthorised use or access. Also, watermarking of an image or uploading of only a portion instead of an entire work can encourage users to pay for access to the full version.

difficult, which makes it very important to take the right measures from the outset. Depending on a creative professional’s target audience and budget, they are able to choose from the many platforms available for distribution of their works, such as the iTunes Store and Amazon Music for music files, and YouTube or Vimeo for video files. Photographers have platforms available to themas well, through Shutterstock. Budget is important since it is obvious that the platforms will charge users for services which can boost visibility. Therefore, a creative professional should also consider the ability to earn income using these channels, but in any case these aremajor sites with high consumer traffic which increase the earning potential of a creative professional’s products. Even those which are free can bring immense value through the publicity. Justin Bieber, Kate Upton, Psy and Adele are all notable names in the creative industries whowere originally discovered on the Internet. It is obvious that a creative professional cannot monitor global use of his or her works alone, considering the many persons, known and unknown, who can access and use a work with and without his or her knowledge. Collective Management Organizations (CMOs), otherwise

There are several benefits of the use of the various

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