The copyright being aimed at protection of nonmaterial values, such as art or literature works, has traditionally been linked with the form, the material carrier of the copyright object. The difficulty of copying (the basis of restrictions in handling the copyright object, a part of the English term, in law terminology replaced by recording, reproduction and publication) of the material carrier promoted obedience to the copyright laws.

With the changes in the nature of information (transfer to digital technologies) it became possible to copy not the carrier, but the content itself with low expense and without wearing out the starting material which presented serious problems for the authors, lawyers and frequently for the viewers/users.

No open source movement activist or copyleft supporter will oppose the author’s right to gain profits from his paper book publication or a commercial film presentation -the answers to these problems are evident. However as soon as the object is transferred into the digital sphere a range of contradictions appears, which are caused by the very nature of the digit.

The digital copy is instant, very cheap and identical to the original. It looks like the development of mechanisms to restrict the userabilities for copying is a serious infringement of their personal rights. A work once out of the hands of its author in the digital form, can never be controlled. The wars led by organizations-intermediaries holders of copyrights or the works themselves are just petty fights for preserving their recently unstable position win the view of almost imminent future defeat.

A work recorded in the digital form is preserved forever - that’s why the situation of content overproduction already exists on the market (content turned into pure information is no longer unique) - when there’s no sense in paying for the use of one work if another can be used free of charge. And because of the growing commercial recognition of the concept of providing content free along with services requiring payment, the artist also has to give his work for free to gain a chance of being heard. Who will pay for their artworks or their copy in the world of free commercial content?

They have to find other ways of gaining profit (by personal communication with viewers, lecturing, live concerts - Esther Dyson’s concept).

Does the existing concept of copyright promote the development of culture and arts in accordance with their original idea?

Will copyright finally lose its value?

What should be the attitude towards the shift of value from contents to “package’ - the positioning and presenting processes, PR?

What can be the sources of profit when copyright is destroyed?

How can content be used if profit can’t be gained by copying it?

What will happen to intermediary organizations., such as publishers, suppliers, copyright holders, archives proprietors, etc… when copyright loses its value completely?

All these and other questions will be discussed art the round table. Everyone’s invited!

The forms of intellectual property protection are: copyright, patent and trademark.

Copyright usually protects art, theoretical and literary works, products of creative and scientific activity. Protecting one’s work by copyright doesn’t require obtaining a license or going through registration procedures.

Copyright protects both non-property (right of authorship, title, author’s reputation protection, recall, etc.) and property (reproduction, distribution, import, conversion) rights of the author. It is usually the property rights that are infringed. Non-property rights are retained by the author even when exclusive exploitation rights are transferred to another person.

Copyleft - a term used in the situation when non-property rights are supported while ignoring property rights.

Patent - the system for innovations’ protection: technologies as solutions for specific problems, software products, etc. A patent is a license, received from a special organization after an examination procedure. The patent functions radically: a patent device may be used only with the author’s permission.

Open source - a notion evolved in February 1998, requiring that software products meet a set of conditions: access to source code, free distribution, non-discrimination towards individuals or groups (distribution and project participation), distribution in the form of author code plus patches, distribution of derivative works under the same conditions, etc.

Trademark - a sign, indicating the product’s belonging to a certain enterprise. In most countries requires registration procedures.