From compliance to creative rights in music education: rethinking intellectual property in the age of new media

Abstract

This article examines one possible approach to teaching music in higher education with regards to creative rights and copyright. The author shares theoretical ideas underlying changes in content, creativity and culture brought about by the rise of new media and the Internet. Comparing examples of professional and student works, the author details increasingly prevalent creative practices. As these creative practices are intimately involved with new media, this brings increased attention to copyright in the classroom. The author reviews the predominant approach for teaching copyright, concluding that it favours compliance and centres on illegal downloading and digital infringement. A critique of the compliance approach finds four key weaknesses: first, that it ignores the norm/law gap; second, the inherent ambiguity in copyright makes compliance nearly impossible to achieve; third, a compliance approach is not in harmony with contemporary creative practices teachers should promote and; fourth, it has lead to the omission of critical areas that belong in every child's education. In its place, the author argues for a creative rights approach, focusing upon creativity and innovation. The article closes with three approaches for the enacting of a creative rights approach: recognition of student work, attention to the intellectual property dimensions of the curriculum and the allowance of transgressive works.