Winter in Brazil
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Scott Neuman wrote to me about his experience with music and a different take on intellectual property south of the equator:
“A software engineer prior to law school, I have always been intensely interested in software development and adoption. In my first year at law school, I had the pleasure of taking a cyberlaw class with Jonathan Zittrain. To this day, I remain fascinated by the reading he assigned on South America’s transition to open-source software (for example: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/10/…). In researching further, it proved clear that the Center for Technology & Society is spearheading this movement (CTV is an affiliate of Brazil’s FGV law school in Rio de Janeiro, quite analogous to the Berkman Center at HLS).
“And my timing couldn’t have been better. The same week I arrived in Rio, my cubicle-mate (Ronaldo Lemos) was elected the new head of Creative Commons creativecommons.org). I couldn’t believe I had the first opportunity to interview the new head of an organization I had so often discussed in law school classes. And to my delight, we share a real interest in using technology to facilitate free culture & fight media centralization. No doubt Brazil is predisposed to embracing free culture. Simple economics drive much of the switch to open source software. And in music, artists like Gilberto Gil (now the head of the ministry of culture) have pushed tropicalismo since the 1960s. This cannibalistic style of music relies heavily on sampling prior recordings. Heck, even Bossa Nova reflects a fusion of Jazz & Samba.
“But I really got interested in CTV’s research on Technobrega, a type of music prevalent in the relatively poor Northern regions of Brazil. Interestingly, no more than 10% of these artists have ever been contacted by major recording labels. And these artists actually encourage street vendors to sell pirated copies of their CDs & DVDs, equating it to advertising (much like radio play). The artists make money selling concert tickets and selling authentic CDs & DVDs at these concerts. To my astonishment, these artists make more money, and generate far more new music on average than their peers in the southern regions. And these artists voice no interest in signing with the major labels. And why should they? They’ve developed a complex & profitable industry where IP constraints are a non-factor.
“For a fan of media decentralization, this research proved fascinating. And while in Brazil, I was also introduced to the Nollywood revolution. It turns out that Nigeria is churning out tons of new movies, and within 15 years, likely will have more movies under its belt than Hollywood. And this same community recently launched a new television station, Africa Magic, which became the most watched channel in Africa within months. I’m already looking to travel there after graduation and continue my research. I can’t wait!”
