The Association for Cultural Economics International (ACEI) invites you to attend its 17th international conference on cultural economics at Doshisha University, Kyoto, from Thursday June 21st to Sunday 24th, 2012.
Keynote lectures will be given by:
- Prof. Stan J. Liebowitz, Professor of Economics, Director, Center for the Analysis of Property Rights and Innovation, University of Texas at Dallas
- Prof. Roberto Zanola, President of the ACEI
- Prof. Masahisa Fujita, Diversity and Culture in Knowledge Creation
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Prof. Stan J. Liebowitz
Professor of Economics, Director, Center for the Analysis of Property Rights and Innovation, University of Texas at Dallas
"What has the Internet wrought for the production of Entertainment and Culture?"
Changes to television, books, music and so forth when the Internet become the main form of distribution. The changing role of intermediaries, such as publishers and distributors; self-distribution; changes in consumption patterns when everything is available; changes for creators; the impact of piracy; and so forth.
The Internet allows information to move more quickly than before. This souped-up information transfer should, all else equal, enhance the value and marketability of entertainment and cultural products since many of them are, in essence, forms of information. It has not exactly worked out as expected.
Here are some aspects of this transformation that I would like to briefly discuss (probably not all of them and probably in condensed form since each individual topic could more than fill the time I have to talk):
a. Creators have often been at loggerheads with the firms involved with distributing their works. Because the creators have historically split any surplus with aggregators/distributors it is no surprise that there has been conflict. Is the Internet providing freedom for creators to seamlessly self-distribute their creations while achieving a better financial position?
b. Will the post-Internet reality be more ‘democratic’ than the old?
Will it kill the superstar system? Or does the Internet only enhance the superstar effects?
c. Piracy has become an issue that threatens many traditional industries, from photography to music and movies. The evidence on the impacts of piracy supports the simple intuition that piracy is bad for sales. Is it inevitable that revenues from such creations will suffer this diminution in sales?
d. The “opt-out” mentality associated with Internet firms (e.g., Google Book Project, YouTube, and GrooveShark) has turned traditional ownership on its head. Are creators better off in a world where users must ask them for permission to use their works (opt-in), or where they must notify users when they don’t want their works used (opt-out)?
e. If the Internet crushes the financial rewards to creation available in markets, can that leave the consumers of these products better off? - Prof. Roberto Zanola
President of the ACEI - Prof. Masahisa Fujita
President and Chief Research Officer of Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry; Professor of Konan University; and Adjunct Professor of Institute of Economic Research at Kyoto University
"Diversity and Culture in Knowledge Creation: The Story of the Tower of Babel Revisited"
