Digital Rights Network

An extensive survey (2004-12-06) by the Pew Internet and Life Project produced interesting reading for observers of the P2P 'wars'. For example, in the comparison (p.44) of the attitudes of general artists, musicians the public it is revealed that on all measures artists have more liberal attitudes on IP (i.e. more favourable to sharing and fair-use type activities) than the general public. Moreover in general artists see the internet as being overwhelmingly beneficial and a majority consider file-sharing to pose little or no threat:

Artists and musicians believe that unauthorized peer-to-peer file-sharing of copyrighted works should be illegal. However, the vast majority do not see online filesharing as a big threat to creative industries. Across the board, artists and musicians are more likely to say that the internet has made it possible for them to make more money from their art than they are to say it has made it harder to protect their work from piracy or unlawful use. [p. ii]

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Still, just 28% of artists consider file-sharing to be a major threat and 30% of Paid Artists say this. Among the musicians in our online survey, two-thirds say file-sharing poses a minor threat or no threat at all. [p. v]

One of the most interesting things is the table on p. 44 that compares

The most consistent fact to emerge regarding file-sharing and fair-use was that artists were not univocal, rather there was substantial division with two large groups holding different and, often, opposing views. For example:

• 47% of artists agreed with the statement that file-sharing services are bad for artists because they allow people to copy or use an artist's work without getting permission or compensating the artist while 43% agreed that file-sharing services aren't really bad for artists, since they help to promote and distribute an artist’s work to a broad audience p.vi
• 46% of artists think it should be legal to burn a CD or movie for a friend while 48% think it should be illegal. For musicians the corresponding percentages were 47% and 41% respectively.
• A majority of artists whose work can be digitized (55%) said they would want their art to be copy-protected so that digital copies could not be made without their permission. Another 40% said they would not want their art to be copy-protected, and 5% said they didn’t know or refused to answer the question. The Paid Artists within that group were split down the middle on this issue; 48% of these working artists whose art can be digitized said they would want the copy protection, and 47% said they would not. Another 5% said they didn’t know or refused to answer. [pp. 15-16]

Other interesting facts from the survey:

There are 32 million Americans who consider themselves artists and more than three times as many who pursue some sort of artistic endeavors in their lives, according to a survey fielded in November-December 2003 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The Pew Internet Project survey suggests that up to 10 million Americans earn at least some money from their performances, songs, paintings, videos, sculptures, photos or creative writing. [p.iii]

For example, artists can use the internet to locate creative work from the public domain or to find out of if another artist’s work is legally available for them to use. This can be a crucial component to the production of an artistic work, as works in the public domain do not require the licensing fees and permissions typically associated with copyrighted works. Close to one-quarter, 24%, of all online artists say they use the internet or email to locate work from the public domain or otherwise investigate works they can use, and 37% of Paid Online Artists say this. [p.10]

Paid Digitized Artists are more likely than others to say that the internet has helped them professionally: 54% say the internet has helped their career, and only 1% say it has hurt. Similarly, 56% of Paid Digitized Artists say that the internet has made it possible for them to earn more money from their art. More than one-third (35%) report a big effect, while one-fifth (21%) report a small effect. [p. 13]