Access to Knowledge 2008

Open Business Models

A new breed of entrepreneurs has emerged to challenge the old assumption that exclusive intellectual property regimes are essential for cultural innovation. These new business models demonstrate that “free culture”—in the sense of open and democratic—can still provide livelihoods for creators and businesspeople. This panel will examine these new ways of doing business and discuss their potential to foster wider access to knowledge in a digital age, and features Ronaldo Lemos, Fundacão Getulio Vargas (FGV) School of Law; Charles Igwe, The Big Picture Ltd; Regina Casé, Pindorama Produçoes Artisticas Ltda; Elizabeth Stark, Yale Information Society Project; and moderated by William Drake, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies.

The panelists—including an educator, an editor, a journalist and a filmmaker—will bring examples of business successes on multiple continents that reflect A2K ideals toward the spread of culture, entertainment and information.

The questions to be addressed will include:

* What is open business? What are some new business models that support entrepreneurial activity while promoting wider access to culture, entertainment and knowledge?
* How do these models interact with copyright? Does the traditional copyright system support or hinder open business?
* What is the role of technology for empowering the global peripheries and their cultural creations?

William Drake:
• Open business models is a wide phenomenon, not just new on internet but also traditional brick and mortar companies.
• Gaining popularity – many people are using and defining this term.
• Selectively tearing down walls trying to make a unified business ecosystem. Ex: downsizing the firm, collaborative learning, tap into expertise
• Varying degrees of peer production, different forms of labor and authority, looking at expertise based authority
• Looking at platforms like Internet
• Transparency is a big priority
• More open access to sharing knowledge

Charles Igwe:
• Focus has been on expansion of business structures that underpin a commercially and socially successful motion picture industry.
• Origins of Nigerian motion picture experience: natural, economic, political, technological and inspired – commercial exploitation of motion pictures for home entertainment.
• Stock of stories available for conversion into the new media came from existing folklore and contemporary observations and commentary which provided the binding currency with the Nigerian audience
• Export of these films follows family lines – telling own stories —awareness and appetite for Nigerian movies grows exponentially because of diverse formats.
• Piracy is rife, particularly in other African countries
• Local and global demand far outstrips the supply
• Nollywood: coined in 2001 by a New York Times journalist and used to describe the emerging Nigerian cinema. It sticks as a brand and consolidates a global awareness. Film festivals, international tours, and co-productions fully integrate Nigerian movies as alternative viewing in Africa.
• Transition is the present state: hi-definition video, DVD, broadband Internet, mobile devices, all have new implications for Nigerian content industries
• Now there are over 20,000 movies made, 5 dedicated 24 hr channels – Riverwood, Ugowood too!
• Revival of broadcast schedules across Africa, Caribbean
• New Media – Broadband, Mobile
• New Distribution Framework
• Capacity is 24 Disc replication plants, 60 million mobile phone lines
• Current issues: Product quality, piracy as we see it, etc
• Social synergy: social re-engineering – job creation, poverty alleviation, re-skilling, community regeneration. Education – story telling, strengthening local information gathering, preservation and study. Historical and cultural documentation
• Platforms for engagement: BOB TV – African Film and Television Programmes Expo, Business and Networking Plaform for African content, Capacity building for the content industries

Ronaldo Lemos:
• Stakeholders in many discussions involved here in this production – we must involve actors in the A2K movement
• Things he will not talk about: open source, creative commons, free software
• How is technology being appropriated by the global peripheries?
• MUSIC:
• Websites like Trama Virtual is where much of the created music in Brazil goes – 58,000 artists are on it, and more than 200,000 recordings – you can download for free. An entire generation of Brazilian musicians are from this website
• What happens in terms of technology and cultural production for people who do not have computers?
o Consider this musical scene called tecnobrega (in Para) – electronic beats and romantic tunes. Release 400 CDs and 100DVDs every year – but not through stores, in street vendors! The people you think sell pirated goods are actually distributing this on the street. They make a lot of money through sound system parties. Very popular. Research conducted in Nigeria, Mexico, & Colombia about music
o Global markets – everything starts with the dance and the DJs, go to recording studios, they give it to the distributor/street vendors who sell it to the public. The DJs get hired by the concert halls and soundsystem companies and the public pay to go there. There are always funders – producers or party funders – and they sponsor or have stakes in the music. The artists sell CDs and DVDs after they go live. The number they sell is indicative – and often good quality, better lyrics, et cetera, but they are still bought in high numbers.
o Similar story with baile funk.
• MOVIES: Hollywood has the market share of 85%movies worldwide, in Brazil it has 94% — little left for local market. Every year Brazil releases 51, India is 934, Nigeria is 1200, and US is 611.
• GLOBAL: dubstep, miami bass, hip-hop, kuduro, bubblin, champeta, cumbia villera, kwaito, coupe decale.

Regina Case:
• From a huge television network – has a program that goes to places where populations are traditionally excluded from the public sphere.
• Called “Periphery Central”.
• Showed a DVD
• Music is transmitted informally and electronically (ex: over MSN) everything is 100% digital, even for the large parties – but much of this phenomenon is not covered by the mainstream (“by the outskirts for the outskirts”)
• Used to be much more prejudice about “slum music” but apparently becoming more mainstream
• Also examines coupe decale, kuduro

Elizabeth Stark:
• OpenBusiness.cc
• Generally in the cultural sphere, we can look at open business as not relying on traditional means of exclusive property rights
• Different layers of openness – open content, or even potentially gray-area content, open code, open standards
• Often people are looking for a solution. The future of open business is not singular, and it’s not one size fits all! Very diverse
• Reach out to a community of creators – important to reach out to others and use their models
• Lack of reliance on traditional means and copyright
• Software: Linux for example has a LOT of patents. Mozilla makes its money based off Google rights taskbar and donations, or providing a service where there is paid potential but the underlying code is free
• Music and remix culture: ad based models, revenue share, marketing based models, digital balance. Ex. Radiohead
• De facto open model vs. de jure
• Girl Talk!! – gray-area, used a creative commons license. Nine Inch Nails – last two albums under CC (made 1.6M that way)
• Music blogging scene: will post a track and write a description and link (rcrd-lbl – download music for free and revenue adshare)