Do anti-piracy laws mean we are losing our online cultural heritage?
Someone whose work I greatly admired has vanished. Without so much as a bye or leave their website closed, their emails started bouncing and they vanished from social media. It all happened so quickly.This complete departure raises some interesting questions about recording our artistic and cultural heritage as it increasingly moves online. Copying and then redistributing someone else's content is of course illegal (and long may it continue to be so). It does mean, however, that when the content producer closes shop our heritage could come to a cultural dead end.
A collector may acquire a book and later sell it. An artist's work may be bought by a gallery or museum and put on display. But a web designer's? Once the "off" switch is pressed it is gone forever and any attempt to redisplay the work may easily leave the "curator" open to criminal charges.
The rush to drive anti-piracy laws onto the statute books may protect commercial interests, and even my interest as a producer of content. My question is whether these laws have been framed with such a strong emphasis on commerce that culture has been ignored? By protecting my ability to earn money have we prevented future generations from enjoying my work?
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