Copyright wars and learning objects

One of the most serious threats to the development of the learning object economy as described by Downes (2002) is the consistent campaign by the controllers of copyright to undermine, and render inoperable, the public domain. The learning object economy is the system of learning object repositories, distribution systems and rights’ management that is currently being developed by a wide variety of different learning institutions and organizations. Learning object (LO) developers need to understand that presently there are powerful organizations of “intellectual property” owners, and vendors of music, videos, books and software that are making a concerted attack on copyright, attempting to convert it from a law to promote knowledge and the useful arts into a mechanism to protect and serve their special interests. In this paper, the term “copyright controllers” refers to both the owners and vendors, including the “big players” such as Disney, Bertelsmann, and Time/Warner/AOL and their organizations that together control much of the world’s content (Barlow, 2002). They want to control “in infinite detail all use and duplication of material, monitor that use, and possibly charge for it on a transactional basis if they don't block it out of hand” (Lynch, 2001, p. 29). Bollier (2003) recognizes three ways in which the copyright controllers are accomplishing their goals. The first is through the use of proprietary standards. The second is building “walled gardens”. And, the third is through the privatization of Interactive Technology & Smart Education (2005) 2: 141–153 © 2005 Troubador Publishing Ltd.