| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The idea of resistance generally has normative associations, particularly in the current intellectual property (IP) environment. Justifications for actions are framed as supporting an aggrieved party in an unequal struggle against a clearly superior opposition. The adoption of the mantle of resistance is not limited to one side. Just as organizations such as Electronic Freedom Foundation claim they are part of the resistance to global corporate domination of culture, musicians, music owners and their associations portray themselves as mounting a resistance against a veritable tsunami of technology-driven piracy that threatens to destroy the production of culture and the livelihood of artists. This article starts from this point in order to question the assumptions we have about resistance. Using a paradigmatic framework, it will recast resistance as points in a historic process that are normatively neutral yet ontologically and practically potent. Application of this framework to the history of Anglo-American copyright reveals two types of resistance that bracket a major shift in the conceptualization and practice of the paradigm. In the end, this perspective demythologizes resistance. Resistance, in this perspective, is not emancipatory or heroic; it is another tool that can be useful in particular moments in the complex struggles over the defining of our social existence.
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