Protecting Digital Content Using Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Tradition & Culture

In academia there is a well established tradition of referencing (MLA, APA, Harvard) & giving credit to the author of a published work (a new thought, ideas, concepts, frameworks, insights, knowledge etc).

This tradition is followed to the T & is frowned upon if credit is not given. Many plagiarise academic work too but a firm culture & practice is established which every academic researcher honours around the world.

However, on Social Media Platforms there are no such niceties & rules. When you publish content on social platforms by default you agree to give the Platform / Website a FREE License to use the work for a variety of purposes, like displaying it, adapting/analysing & copying & SHARING it.?

The massive growth of Social Media Platform is based on Content Sharing without issues of copyright as platforms allow it.

Can we then control content on social media?

How does one discover who created the original piece of content?

Can Imagery of Public Figures be Copyrighted?

Plus we need to make a distinction between Commercial & Non-Commercial Use of Content in any Policy.

Ms. Manal Ataya writes in The National News that updating UAE Copyright laws will Protect / Empower creatives / artists

Do Read: https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2021/07/15/updating-uae-copyright-laws-empowers-artists/

With dozens of free digital content platforms (images, videos, text, fonts, UI/UX designs, software code), & a growing Culture of "Do Social Good with Technology" with Open Source / Open Content, adopting rigid copyright will reduce the overall usage/sharing of content & instead of helping it may hinder work / growth of creatives especially when content is tailored to local/regional markets of smaller size. The market is already small & on top of it rigid copyrights will be counter productive.

Using AI one can generate millions of stock images / videos / audio / text content by interpolating / extrapolating & offer for Free or $9 monthly subscription with unlimited use. Creatives cannot compete with that.

For creatives to ensure commercial sustainability & future proof their work they need to be more creative & create unique content & protect it using Digital Rights Management (DRM) software where applicable, which is available to protect valuable work from unauthorised use & to ensure commercial users pay to use.

Digital Content Registration

Content creators create a number of pieces of content sometimes on the fly so registering each piece of work to protect copyright isn't convenient. Sometimes creators don't even know if their work will ever sell.

The responsibility to protect one's content must be with the Creator first & foremost, by putting it behind pay walls for authorised / licensed use and use DRM as feasible because most digital users are not savvy enough to discover original ownership/copyrights etc. An image can be shared & re-shared by 1000s complicating copyright protections.

DRM is a better solution to protect digital work.

Brands / Agencies with Commercial uses of digital content already am sure pay & use. Plus digital design experts who know how to manipulate digital content they can copy the idea / colour combinations and create / alter images and use it without copyright issues.

Social Media Users will certainly not pay as they are used to free to use platforms / resources so non commercial use can be best tapped by Creatives for greater visibility & to drive traffic to official websites through suitable branding & where possible embedding links in each piece of content to track & engage potential users.

The thing is Digital is a Strategy to Compete/Survive/Grow. So Go all in A-Z & use all digital tools available to protect your work if its very valuable work & if digital is critical to your business survival. Just creating or publishing few images / photographs / Digital Art & worrying about copyright is futile.

More importantly to develop the digital content market focusing on developing a culture of respect for others work & simplifying access to creative content with the ability to check copyright & offering a flexible, affordable, easy to pay licensing model will in the long run help protect/incentivise the work of creatives.

Digital Content is a key component of the Digital Economy so developing a dedicated platform for creatives to sell their work & users to check copyright and buy content with ease will be a good start.

Blockchain can be an ideal solution for digital content provenance too.

DRM licensing can be costly, so shared licensing under a single platform for digital content may be feasible & cost effective which creative ecosystem creators with responsibility to develop the ecosystem should collectively with members provide.

*** StartUp Idea:

Launch a Digital Content Platform with Blockchain & DRM Solution for Creatives. There is potential to generate revenue considering the millions of pieces of content created.

Not giving credit for others work is a cultural thing. A mystery survey of business practices will help immensely to identify the issues & create awareness to change business practices. * This is the elephant in the room which when addressed can motivate creatives & knowledge professionals to create more. Social Media Non Commercial Content Sharing is not the issue. It only offers greater visibility & extends reach.

Cumbersome procedures in fast paced Creative Industries will hinder growth rather than supporting it.

Simplify. Simplify. Simplify

= =

Do Read

How Copyright Works with Social Media: Fair Use & Licensing

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/copyrights-and-social-media-issues-397821

Pause Before You Post – Copyright Issues in Social Media

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/pause-you-post-copyright-issues-social-media