Words matter. The T-word, patent “troll,” has been used widely over the past 20 years to negatively predispose potential licensees, lawmakers, the courts, as well as the public, to licensing IP rights.
The two words used together have contributed significantly to making tech licensing more arduous over the past decade, if not impossible, costing businesses and investors billions of dollars, and creating an impediment to innovation and jobs that has yet to be fully measured.
“Patent ‘troll’ has served to demean those who wish to license,” writes Bruce Berman in a recent Intangible Investor column in IP Watchdog, “no matter how fair or appropriate the circumstances… In the world of elected representatives, the courts and public opinion you could say memeification is 9/10 of the law.”
Now, content creators – writers, filmmakers, directors, designers, photographers, videographers, journalists, and others face a similar threat, one that has been exacerbated by gernative A.I.
Cheaper Access
Whether a convenient catchall term or a something cultivated by publishers, studios, streaming giants, record labels and other distribution channels to provide wider and cheaper access to copyrighted material they require, the term “content creator” implies that creative expression is fungible—a mere product than can be sourced here or there with minor differences.
“…studio and streaming executives, who are perhaps the primary users and abusers of the term, love to talk about ‘content’ because it’s so wildly diminutive” writes Jason Bailey in the New York Times. “It’s a quick and easy way to minimize what writers, directors and actors do, to act as though entertainment (or, dare I say it, art) is simply churned out — and could be churned out by anyone, sentient or not.”
“To hear people talk about ‘content’ makes me feel like the stuffing inside a sofa cushion,” Oscar-winning actor Emma Thompson said in conversation with head of CAA Bryan Lourd at the Royal Television Society Conference, IndieWire reported via Variety. “‘Content,’ what do you mean ‘content’? It’s just rude, actually. It’s just a rude word for creative people.”
Go here to read the full Intangible Investor column, “Words Matter – The High Cost of Deal-Shaming IP Owners.”
Image source: IndieWire
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