The ethics, aesthetics and practical politics of ownership in co-creative media

What is ‘best practice’ when it comes to managing intellectual property rights in participatory media content? As commercial media and entertainment business models have increasingly come to rely upon the networked productivity of end-users (Banks and Humphreys 2008) this question has been framed as a problem of creative labour made all the more precarious by changing employment patterns and work cultures of knowledge-intensive societies and globalising economies (Banks, Gill and Taylor 2014). This paper considers how the problems of ownership are addressed in non-commercial, community-based arts and media contexts. Problems of labour are also manifest in these contexts (for example, reliance on volunteer labour and uncertain economic reward for creative excellence). Nonetheless, managing intellectual property rights in collaborative creative works that are created in community media and arts contexts is no less challenging or complex than in commercial contexts. This paper takes as its focus a particular participatory media practice known as ‘digital storytelling’. The digital storytelling method, formalised by the Centre for Digital Storytelling (CDS) from the mid-1990s, has been internationally adopted and adapted for use in an open-ended variety of community arts, education, health and allied services settings (Hartley and McWilliam 2009; Lambert 2013; Lundby 2008; Thumin 2012). It provides a useful point of departure for thinking about a range of collaborative media production practices that seek to address participation ‘gaps’ (Jenkins 2006). However the outputs of these activities, including digital stories, cannot be fully understood or accurately described as user-generated content. For this reason, digital storytelling is taken here to belong to a category of participatory media activity that has been described as ‘co-creative’ media (Spurgeon 2013) in order to improve understanding of the conditions of mediated and mediatized participation (Couldry 2008). This paper reports on a survey of the actual copyrighting practices of cultural institutions and community-based media arts practitioners that work with digital storytelling and similar participatory content creation methods. This survey finds that although there is a preference for Creative Commons licensing a great variety of approaches are taken to managing intellectual property rights in co-creative media. These range from the use of Creative Commons licences (for example, Lambert 2013, p.193) to retention of full copyrights by storytellers, to retention of certain rights by facilitating organisations (for example, broadcast rights by community radio stations and public service broadcasters), and a range of other shared rights arrangements between professional creative practitioners, the individual storytellers and communities with which they collaborate, media outlets, exhibitors and funders. This paper also considers how aesthetic and ethical considerations shape responses to questions of intellectual property rights in community media arts contexts. For example, embedded in the CDS digital storytelling method is ‘a critique of power and the numerous ways that rank is unconsciously expressed in engagements between classes, races and gender’ (Lambert 117). The CDS method privileges the interests of the storyteller and, through a transformative workshop process, aims to generate original individual stories that, in turn, reflect self-awareness of ‘how much the way we live is scripted by history, by social and cultural norms, by our own unique journey through a contradictory, and at times hostile, world’ (Lambert 118). Such a critical approach is characteristic of co-creative media practices. It extends to a heightened awareness of the risks of ‘story theft’ and the challenges of ownership and informs ideas of ‘best practice’ amongst creative practitioners, teaching artists and community media producers, along with commitments to achieving equitable solutions for all participants in co-creative media practice (for example, Lyons-Reid and Kuddell nd.). Yet, there is surprisingly little written about the challenges of managing intellectual property produced in co-creative media activities. A dialogic sense of ownership in stories has been identified as an indicator of successful digital storytelling practice (Hayes and Matusov 2005) and is helpful to grounding the more abstract claims of empowerment for social participation that are associated with co-creative methods. Contrary to the ‘change from below’ philosophy that underpins much thinking about co-creative media, however, discussions of intellectual property usually focus on how methods such as digital storytelling contribute to the formation of copyright law-compliant subjects, particularly when used in educational settings (for example, Ohler nd.). This also exposes the reliance of co-creative methods on the creative assets storytellers (rather than on the copyrighted materials of the media cultures of storytellers) as a pragmatic response to the constraints that intellectual property right laws impose on the entire category of participatory media. At the level of practical politics, it also becomes apparent that co-creative media practitioners and storytellers located in copyright jurisdictions governed by ‘fair use’ principles have much greater creative flexibility than those located in jurisdictions governed by ‘fair dealing’ principles.

Investigating the link between transit oriented development and sustainable travel behavior in Brisbane : a case-control study

The purpose of this research is to empirically test the prevailing view that transit oriented development enhances the use of more sustainable modes of transport using Brisbane, Australia as a case. Transit oriented development has been adopted as a new policy tool to reduce car-based travel worldwide. Despite being a billion dollar investment, the impacts of transit oriented development on promoting sustainable travel behavior is not conclusive. The research uses a case-control approach to empirically investigate this relationship based on travel behavior data collected from 88 individuals living in two contrasting neighborhoods in Brisbane: Kelvin Grove Urban Village – a transit oriented development, and Annerley – a traditional suburb (non-transit oriented development). A comparative investigation of travel behavior was subsequently conducted using distance travelled by modes and purposes between the neighborhoods. Results show that the availability of opportunity and services located within the transit oriented development reduces the car use by 5% and increases the use of active transport by 4%. The findings in this research support the implementation of TOD policies in Brisbane.

Creative occupations as knowledge practices : innovation and precarity in the creative economy

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Creative Industries and Innovation (herewith CCI) was established with two simple policy objectives. One was to assess anecdotal and boosterish claims about the growth rates of the creative industries, and hence, to measure the size of the creative industries contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). The other was to ascertain the contribution of the creative industries to employment. Preliminary research detailed in Cunningham and Higgs (2009) showed that the existing industrial classifications did not incorporate the terminology of the creative industries, nor did they disaggregate new categories of digital work such as video games. However, we discovered that occupational codes provide a much more fine-grained account of work that would enable us to disaggregate and track economic activity that corresponded to creative industries terminology. Thus was born one major centrepiece of CCI research – the tracking of national occupational codes in pursuit of measuring creative industries policy outcomes. This paper commences with some description of empirical work that investigates creative occupations; however, the real point is to suggest that this type of detailed, occupation-based empirical work has important theoretical potential that has not yet been fully expended (though see Cunningham 2013; Hearn and Bridgstock 2014; Bakhshi, Freeman and Higgs 2013; Hartley and Potts 2014).

Stepping outside the circle : a reflective practice framework for creative facilitators

Stepping Outside the Circle was a practice-based research project focussed on creating a professional reflection framework for creative facilitators working within the community, education, corporate and health and wellbeing sectors. Underpinned by theories of critical reflection, transformative learning, reflexivity and agency, this study explored the potential benefits of multimodal inquiry processes, adapting existing reflective practice models for the unique requirements of creative facilitation contexts. Through application of the key findings from this research, synthesised in a practitioner resource, it is hoped that individual practitioners and creative organisations may develop their understanding of evaluation strategies, self- reflexivity, professional sustainability and practitioner self-care.

Creative Commons Australia and Organization for Transformative Works submission to the Australian Government’s online copyright infringement discussion paper

This submission focuses on the adverse effects that the Government’s proposals are likely to have on the legitimate use of copyright works. Copyright exists to support the production of new expression. Because new expression always builds on existing culture, any extension of copyright protection necessarily also increases the costs of creative expression. As a threshold matter, we do not believe that these further increases to the force of copyright law are justified. In recent years, the balance at the heart of copyright law has tipped too far in the direction of established producers and distributors, and now imposes unnecessary costs on ordinary creators. The available evidence does not support a further increase in the penalties and enforcement mechanisms available under copyright law.

Design for creative activity : a framework for analyzing the creative potential of computer games

This paper describes a design framework intended to conceptually map the influence that game design has on the creative activity people engage in during gameplay. The framework builds on behavioral and verbal analysis of people playing puzzle games. The analysis was designed to better understand the extent to which gameplay activities within different games facilitate creative problem solving. We have used an expert review process to evaluate these games in terms of their game design elements and have taken a cognitive action approach to this process to investigate how particular elements produce the potential for creative activity. This paper proposes guidelines that build upon our understanding of the relationship between the creative processes that players undertake during a game and the components of the game that allow these processes to occur. These guidelines may be used in the game design process to better facilitate creative gameplay activity.

When size matters: exploring perceptions and justifications of deviant consumer behavior

Deterrence strategies for deviant consumer behavior are criticised for their ‘one size fits all’ approach. In two studies, this paper examines how the size of harm and size of victim influences consumer perceptions of deviant consumer behavior. Deterrence strategies are recommended that overcome the differences in consumer perceptions of deviance.

Creative arts research : a long path to acceptance

The majority of tertiary practice-led creative arts disciplines became part of the Australian university system as a result of the creation of the Unified National System of tertiary education in 1988. Over the past two decades, research has grown as the yardstick by which academic performance in the Australian university sector is recognised and rewarded. Academics in artistic disciplines, who struggled to adapt to a culture and workload expectations different from their previous, predominantly teaching based, employment, continue to see their research under-valued within the established evaluation framework. Despite a late 1990s Australian government funded inquiry, many of the inequities remain. While the Excellence in Research in Australia (ERA) exercise has acknowledged the non-text outputs of artist-academics in its evaluation of 'research outcomes', much of the process remains resolutely framed by measures that work against creative arts researchers.

Examining the neural correlates of choice behavior in a gambling task using steady state topography

The present study investigated the behavioral and neuropsychological characteristics of decision-making behavior during a gambling task as well as how these characteristics may relate to the Somatic Marker Hypothesis and the Frequency of Gain model. The applicability to intertemporal choice was also discussed. Patterns of card selection during a computerized interpretation of the Iowa Gambling Task were assessed for 10 men and 10 women. Steady State Topography was employed to assess cortical processing throughout this task. Results supported the hypothesis that patterns of card selection were in line with both theories. As hypothesized, these 2 patterns of card selection were also associated with distinct patterns of cortical activity, suggesting that intertemporal choice may involve the recruitment of right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for somatic labeling, left fusiform gyrus for object representations, and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for an analysis of the associated frequency of gain or loss. It is suggested that processes contributing to intertemporal choice may include inhibition of negatively valenced options, guiding decisions away from those options, as well as computations favoring frequently rewarded options.

Self-reflection as an intervention to influence achievement goal orientations and intrinsic motivation

In the context of physical activity, intrinsic motivation refers to the inherent satisfaction associated with participation in the activity. Interest-enjoyment, perceived competence, and effort have been identified as three underlying components of intrinsic motivation. Achievement goal theory stipulates that achievement goals guide our beliefs and behavior. The two main achievement goal orientations identified in the sport and physical activity literature are task and ego orientations. A person with a strong task orientation defines success in self-referenced terms, as improving one’s own performance or mastering new skills. Someone with a strong ego orientation defines success normatively, as being better than others. The majority of research suggests that having a strong task orientation is a good thing, whether with regard to motivationally adaptive responses, sources of sport confidence, students’ satisfaction with learning, or the use of cognitive and self-regulatory strategies. Although the literature supporting the potential benefits of having a strong task orientation is vast, considerably less research has tested interventions designed to strengthen task orientations and intrinsic motivation. A climate that emphasises individual mastery has resulted in increased interest-enjoyment and perceived competence, whereas an emphasis on competition and comparison with others has resulted in a decrease in interest-enjoyment and an increase in tension-pressure. One possible intervention is the use of structured self-reflection. Using self-reflection sheets that cause respondents to focus on specific elements of technique or skills, and rate one’s own performance, should theoretically promote a task focus. Hanrahan suggested that engaging in self-reflection may enhance intrinsic motivation. Perceived competence could be positively affected, as self-analysis and self-monitoring have been found to positively influence the acquisition of physical skills. The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of structured self-reflection in community dance classes would influence achievement goal orientations or levels of intrinsic motivation.