An overview of some of my research related to music and transnationalism, presented at the Wesleyan University Music & Transnationalism Symposium, March 1, 2013

1. Music, Technology, Laws, Ethics &
Transnationalism: A (brief) Overview
Aram Sinnreich, Ph.D.
Rutgers University School of Communication & Information
This text is freely available under a Creative Commons 3.0
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

2. Configurable Culture

3. Social Architecture Mimics The Tools of Production

4. This is Doubly So of Musical Production

5. Networks Have Permeated our Lives

6. We Have Developed a “Configurable Culture”

7. This Was the Subject of My First Book

8. Configurable Culture
by the Numbers

9. Awareness of Configurable Music

10. Usage of Configurable Music

11. Engagement With Configurable Music

12. Engagement: The Age Gap is Closing

13. Opinions About Configurable Culture, 2006

14. Opinions About Configurable Culture, 2010

15. Opinions About Configurable Culture, 2010

16. Emerging Ethics

17. The Ethics of Configurability
Unethical Criterion Ethical
Unpermissioned Legal Permissioned
For profit Commercial Not for profit
Pretension Authenticity Referenced
Unoriginal Innovation Original
Easy Labor Hard work
Bastardization Moral Homage
Rupture Continuity Evolution
Useless/Harmful Value Fun/Beneficial
Ugly Aesthetic Beautiful
Subversive Power Relations Empowering
Meaningless Self Expression Expressive

18. What Do Americans
Care Most About?

19. Commercial (profit vs. not-for-profit)
Age 100.4%
Male 106.8%
Female 94.6%
Education (yrs) 103.8%
US Citizen 108.7%
Income 75.3%
Survey Mean

20. Power Relations (subversive vs. empowering)
Age 105.1%
Male 112.7%
Female 89.9%
Education (yrs) 103.9%
US Citizen 110.9%
Income 113.9%
Survey Mean

21. What Does Everyone
Else Care Most About?

22. Moral (bastardization vs. homage)
Age 95.2%
Male 86.7%
Female 110.6%
Education (yrs) 102.6%
US Citizen 52.6%
Income 77.2%
Survey Mean

23. Self Expression (meangingless vs. expressive)
Age 76%
Male 102.5%
Female 98%
Education (yrs) 108.1%
US Citizen 46.1%
Income 73.5%
Survey Mean

24. One Law to Rule
them All…

25. Copyright is Binary; Ethical Systems are Not
LAW (Top Down)
Legal Illegal
ETHICS (Bottom Up)
Right for X Hazy for Y Wrong for Z

26. Law Emulates/Reinforces the Logic of Industrialization
Industrial Production
Producer Consumer
Culture
Making Engaging Using

27. How Can One Law Fit All Musical Cultures?

28. The Theory of “Harmonization”
When correct sounds move a man, they cause a
spirit of obedience to rise, and when such a spirit
has arisen, good order results. As singers blend their
voices with that of the leader, so good or evil arise
in response to the force that calls them forth. . . [We
must] exercise virtue to harmonize and assist the
ruler in his undertakings.”
- Xunzi, 270 BCE
Business, economic, and legal principles [such as
Intellectual Property] must be considered in combination
in order to maximize economic progress and the
economic welfare of our citizens. In other words, properly
understood and applied, IPR and antitrust law are
complementary, not conflicting, legal systems that should
be applied harmoniously to promote a vibrant, healthy
economy.
- Alden F. Abbott, Federal Trade Commission,
at Chinese government IP symposium, 2005 CE

29. Harmonization in Practice
Stronger Stronger US
Treaties Laws
Stronger
Stronger
Foreign
Agreements
Laws
Stronger
Rulings

30. Consequences for Civil Liberties
UN: Internet Access is a “Fundamental Human Right.”
Censorship Surveillance Anti-Competition

31. Consequences for International Relations
La Ley
Sinde
IPRED

32. Who Would She Rather Be?

33. Thank you.
It’s good to be back.
Aram Sinnreich, Ph.D.
sinn@rutgers.edu
Books by Aram Sinnreich
Mashed Up (2010)
www.mashed-up.com
The Piracy Crusade (2013)
www.piracycrusade.com