Korea and The Knowledge based-Economy With Respect To Copyright
PARK YOUNGGIL
Today I will briefly summarize my paper Korea and The Knowledge based –Economy With Respect To Copyright.which is included in your packet..
It is said that the 21st century will be the age of Asia. If the economic growth and development of Asia over the past 20 years continues for another 20 years, the 21st century will, indeed, the be the age of Asia. In this sense, it is proper to select the “Knowledge based-Economy(:KBE)" as the main theme of this forum today, although somewhat delayed.
Nearly all countries in the world including the United States. enforce diverse policies based on knowledge like Knowledge based- Capital, Knowledge based -Service, Knowledge based- Society besides the policy, “Knowledge based Economy” to overcome the global “New Economic Crisis" and to develop their own economy. Regardless of the difference in terms, however, they are same in that basic objective of knowledge is to play a role as the means of economic development.
Writing this article, I thought again and again, "What is knowledge?" What do we mean when we speak of knowledge? Although I think that I am an intellectual, the concept of knowledge has always been ambiguous to me.
We are living in a plethora of terms like data?information?knowledge in digital and network environment. Then, what do data?information and Knowledge mean? Though many offer opinions, it can be briefly defined. Data is a simple narration and description of a certain case or state as well as simply listing contents. As such, it is material before interpretation based on given meaning.
Information is the result acquired by processing given data in specific form through perception, namely, congregation of formalized and systematized data. Then, information is optionally selected from DATA and knowledge is optionally selected from information. Thus, information is a superior concept to data & knowledge is a superior concept of information. Further, if information is a formalized form of data, namely, the array of data with given meaning, knowledge is information with meaning, that is to say, the information system with given meaning
If the meaning of data, information and knowledge is grasped so, the essence of information is interdependent link, that of knowledge is interdependent context and knowledge is formed by cognitive circularity between information and knowledge. Then, the essence of creating knowledge can be interactive dependence between knowledges.
This may be why Peter F. Drucker stated in his book, “Post-Capitalist Society”“Knowledges if self themselves cannot make anything. Productivity is realized only when several knowledges are combined together to be a knowledge.” KBE shows that the change in the main production factor from material capital to knowledge and the change in standard of economic value from efficiency to innovation take deindustrialization as important characteristics.
Aknowledge based-economy means that knowledge is the source that creates economical added value. While information is a formalized form set of data, knowledge is to give meaning to such information to create new value. Meanwhile, modern society is called as a Informatization Society or Information Society. It is the a society where knowledge is informatized. Such society is a Network Society. which connects information and knowledge in the world through the Internet and media as a network.
Thus, the essence of a network society lies in interdependent connection and a network society is necessarily accompanied by globalization in the global matter. Uttered by Francis Bacon, “Scientia est Potentia” is translated into “Knowledge is power” in Korea. However, it originally means “Knowledge is authority.” Since knowledge is authority, the concentration of knowledge results in the monopoly of authority and the dispersion of knowledge causes the division of authority. In today^s environment of digitization and networking, the dispersion and expansion of knowledge causes fast appearance and expansion of the combination of knowledge and knowledge. Then, the property of knowledge appears. One^s knowledge constantly repeats phenomenon of dispersion, expansion and combination through information and communication network. Then, it can be exchanged with knowledge of others. As a result, all people on the earth are mutually affected in exchange, because their knowledge moves through an information network.
What does copyright system mean to the KBE? This is a new issue. Although the opinion seems to conflict, the then-EU Commissioner for the Internal Market in 2006 is quoted as follows.
"Copyright is the basis of Knowledge.
The Knowledge based-economy is the basis for competitiveness
Therefore copyright is the basis for competitiveness."
Then, “The protection of intellectual and industrial property--copyright, patents, trademarks or designs--is at the heart of a Knowledge based-Economy and central to improving Europe^s competitiveness."
As computers were developed on a mass scale at the beginning of 1980s and the production of knowledge and information as well as the development of service emerged as the core strategy of society, Copyright Law whose legal principle are applied more flexibly in the intellectual property right law can be applied as intellectual property right law in the age of KBE.
Copyright Law protects information that are valuable. The information protected by Copyright Law may be knowledge meant by KBE. Thus, what structure does Copyright Law need to attain the objective of KBE? This question is related to the meaning of existence of Copyright Law. The society conceived by KBE to attain a society where culture develops so that it can be leisurely enjoyed.
To attain such a society, it is necessary to make many people actively and energetically create, namely, intellectual creative activity. Incentive is related. namely that as the creator actively participates in intellectual creative activity, incentive is granted as a consideration. Thus, Copyright Act calls what is created by intellectual creative activity as “work”. It is a system that grants the right to use work only to the creator=author.
Hence, the structure of Copyright Law is composed of the creator, the author, the exploiter, the user of work and end user/consumer that finally consumes work.
However, a new entity is emerging to divide copyright market into a 1st market and the 2nd market depending on the digitization and networking of the copyright environment. The 1st market as a world of creation has non-profit character that respects the personality of the author. However, the 2nd market as a world of reproduction pursues profit as a market maintained by using digital technology and intellectual property right.
In his book, “HOW TO FIX COPYRIGHT”, William Patry stated “Laws are not the answer to all problems. Laws are useful for solving only those problems laws can solve”.
Starting from copyright environment based on analog technology upon the fundamental of Bern Agreement, the current Copyright Act is in the copyright environment of digitization and networking.
Copyright systems have always been confronted withtechnologies that push its limits. Most technologies that develop are desired by society, e.g., the development of technology recording information, media playback, technology to send information or transmission media, etc. overlap with technology which uses work. Then, duality of copyright market is formed, that is, business law where copyright market cannot be expected in analog copyright environment.
Current Copyright Law excessively includes very heterogenous matters including present copyright environment where phenomenon of duality of copyright market appears. Thus, it is necessary to fundamentally reform Copyright Law. If Copyright Law is reformed, KBE may be efficiently and effectively performed. However, no proper prescription is available now.
Studying Copyright Law, we need to seriously ponder over what role Copyright Law should play in KBE.
Law is effective and valuable as such only when it plays the role expected by us. It is time to actively study and discuss the reformation of Copyright Act.
Finally, I briefly comment on the issue of the Copyright Act in Korea.
The purpose of the Copyright Act is stipulated in Article 1 of the Copyright Act in Korea. “The purpose of this Act is to protect the rights of authors and the neighboring rights and to promote fair use of works in order to contribute to the improvement and development of the culture and related industries. <Amended on April 22, 2009>”
What I wish to comment here is “the improvement and development of the culture and related industries.”
Korea may be the only country where the purpose of the Copyright Act is stipulated as the development of industry related to culture. The Article 1 in the Copyright Act of Korea definitely daclares that Copyright Act includes the character of Business Law. However, it may be subject to limit of legislation. Law is not Solution to Business Problems.
However, I think that the problem related to this matter concerns the arbitrary reformation of Copyright Law.
It is also necessary to consider the problem of legislating Copyright Law by discerning the character of traditional culture law & that of industrial law related to culture.
This issue is not mentioned here.
As a member of the OECD, Korea came up with the“Copyright Industry Special Classification(CISC)” in November 2011. CISC was completed by utilizing the “International Standard Industrial Classification", or ISIC index, which WIPO used when it defined copyright industry for its study quite a while ago, to the existing situation of the domestic industry. As recommended by WIPO, the CISC System largely divides the activities of copyright industry into 4 large categories in depth 1, such as Core Copyright Industries, Interdependent Copyright Industries, Partial Copyright Industries and Non-dedicated Support Industries. The industrial activities included in each large category are subdivided into medium categories in depth 2, small categories in depth 3 and very small categories in depth 4, thereby making classification code in 7 digits.
If the Korean government focuses its efforts to understand the copyright-related economic activities only with statistical data, it may end up with formulating not a very realistic and efficient policy.
Thank you.
知识经济框架下的韩国著作权产业.doc