LET'S MAKE POVERTY A 'COPYRIGHT FREE ZONE'!
Mobilizing Airwaves Against Poverty

[Asia Media Summit 2007 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 29-31 May 2007
Plenary Session on 30 May 2007]

By Nalaka Gunawardene
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Director and CEO, TVE Asia Pacific
www.tveap.org

It's a privilege and pleasure to be part of Asia Media Summit
again -- and to be among its co-sponsors! Eighteen months
ago, I spoke on a panel at the World Summit on the
Information Society in Tunis organised by Canada's IDRC. I
was the only speaker from South Asia, which has more people
living in poverty than in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. So
I was asked to address the role of ICTs in reducing poverty.

On that occasion, I said there were different kinds of
poverty. The most degrading one is, of course, income
poverty. But there are other kinds of poverty, less visible
but damaging all the same:

* Poverty of vision;
* Poverty of analysis; and
* Poverty of courage.

So when we talk about poverty, we have to be very careful
that we ourselves don't fall into these 'poverty traps' by
peddling mere platitudes.

In other words, friends:

* we need total sincerity of purpose;
* we need to be smart and strategic in our response; AND
* we need to put our money where our mouth is.

I stand here today as the Director of Television for
Education -- Asia Pacific, better known as TVE Asia Pacific.
We are a small non-profit media foundation that works across
our large and diverse region. We use television, video and
new media to tell authentic, powerful stories on people
living and working at the 'ground zero' of survival.

Income poverty and human deprivation are part of the complex
and nuanced Asia Pacific reality that we cover using moving
images. And not being a broadcaster ourselves, we 'hitch a
ride' on the region's existing TV channels and networks. I am
delighted to see many of our regular broadcast partners
represented at this Summit. They already know our slogan,
which sums up our mission: Moving images, moving people.

But moving people is not easy! Many individuals, communities
and even governments are hesitant or reluctant to change.
That's why communicating for social change is both an art and
a science. And only a few of us have mastered it well --
there is much that we can learn from each other.

Best outreach with broadcast media

As UNESCO data confirm, we have many more radio and
television sets on the planet than newer ICTs like computers
and mobile phones. And it is radio and TV that still give us
the best returns by allowing quick and easy access to
hundreds of millions of people. That is why I sometimes
fondly refer to our broadcast partners as Asia's 'Emperors of
Eyeballs'.

That can give you the impression of awesome power, but it is
quite transient. Real power lies with our audiences -- men
and women who wield a little gadget called the remote
control....

So a big part of our challenge is how to cover and present
poverty and development issues in ways that engage our
all-powerful viewers (and in radio, our listeners). And this
is an area where the development community has largely
failed.

They have tried to crowd the airwaves with information,
education and messages. No argument that these messages are
necessary and worthwhile. But most are also very dense, often
pontificating and -– dare I say it? -– extremely boring!

That's why 'development' has become the 'dreaded D word' for
many broadcasters. The typical packaging of
development-related content puts off many average viewers. Of
course, there are notable and commendable exceptions. But
unless the exceptions become the norm, we cannot succeed in
truly mobilising airwaves against poverty and
under-development.

Copyrights blocking development

Then there are other hurdles to clear. An important one among
them is copyright! I raise this subject with some
trepidation, because I know this is a bed rock of the
broadcast industry.

          Let me assure you that I am not an activist who
          wants to dismantle the broadcast industry. But
          extraordinary situations call for extraordinary
          responses. If we all agree that halving poverty by
          2015 is desirable and feasible, we must then
          consider how copyright restrictions are a roadblock
          on that already difficult road.

We all know the power of moving images. Used strategically,
moving images can move people to change lifestyles, attitudes
and behaviour. Indeed, the right kind of information --
whether about microcredit, contraception, home gardening or
immunisation -- can vastly improve the quality of life, and
even save lives that are needlessly lost. But this is not
something that one-off or even repeat broadcasts alone can
accomplish. We need a mix of broadcast and narrowcast
approaches.

Communicating for social change is a slow, incremental
process that involves learning, understanding, participation
and sharing.

At TVE Asia Pacific, we work equally with broadcast,
educational and civil society users of moving images. Our
experience for over a decade shows that narrowcast work can
reinforce and build on the initial broadcast outreach.

But that's where we often run into a problem. Every year,
excellent TV programmes are made on different development
topics. Public and private funds are spent in making these
programmes, which draw in the creativity and hard work of
committed professionals.

Many of your channels willingly broadcast these programmes.
They are typically aired a few times and then end up in the
archives. Few may be exploited for their multimedia
potential. Yet many of these programmes have a longer
shelf-life -- and outside the broadcast sphere. They can be
extremely useful in education, awareness raising, advocacy
and training.

          Alas, copyrights restrictions are often too tight
          for that to happen. Even where the film-makers or
          producers themselves are keen for their creations
          to be used beyond broadcasts, the copyright
          policies stand in the way. In large broadcast
          organisations, it is lawyers and accountants -- not
          journalists or producers -- who now seem to decide
          on what kind of content is produced, and how it is
          distributed under what restrictions.

I personally know a number of award-winning film-makers who
are simply not allowed the educational use of their own
creations. Leading western broadcasters that co-financed
their productions won't release the rights.

Asian broadcasters are not much better. It's more out of
habit that many continue copyright regimes that were adopted
before the digital revolution. Few have given it further
thought. Business practice is to tie up every media product
in complex and complicated copyright arrangements, just in
case.

          But business as usual just won't do when we are
          confronted with massive global challenges such as
          reducing poverty at least by half over the next few
          years. If the audio-visual media and the broadcast
          industry are to play a meaningful role against
          poverty, HIV, corruption and other scourges of our
          time, we need to break free from this crushing
          copyright mentality.

On-air and off-air assault on poverty

Broadcasters need to let go of development related TV content
after initial broadcasts. They must also allow educational
and civil society users greater access to vast visual
archives, gathered from all over the world.

In this context, I would like to repeat a proposal I first
made last year, which I have since presented at the UN
Headquarters and other forums.

It's simple: Let us make poverty a "copyrights free zone".

The idea is to have broadcasters and other electronic
publishers release copyrights on TV, video and online content
relating to poverty and development issues -- at least until
(MDG target year of) 2015.

I do realise this is easier said than done, but extraordinary
situations call for extraordinary responses. Let us remember
that similar 'tectonic shifts' have happened in other sectors
in recent years.

For example:

* Confronted with the global HIV pandemic and the very high
cost of anti retroviral treatment, a few pharmaceutical
companies in India, Brazil and South Africa started
manufacturing generic versions of the same drugs but at much
lower prices. This helped to achieve drastic reductions in
cost of treatment.

* The free and open source software (FOSS) movement is
countering the market domination by proprietary software
producers. They seem to be finding their own niches.

These changes started with an idea, which was pursued with
dogged determination. These were accomplished amidst initial
resistance from the industries concerned. But looking back,
these breakthroughs have enabled a greater sharing of
benefits especially for those who are unable to pay for it.

          I'm not suggesting that all copyright controls are
          suspended.  Perhaps AIBD could study the practical
          aspects of this proposal and come up with
          recommendations. But let's do it soon! (Asia
          Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development,
          AIBD, www.aibd.org.my – organisers of the annual
          Asia Media Summit.)

And I call upon development donors to insist that all
development films and other media products they finance --
with tax-payer money -- will have no copyright restrictions
attached. I hope the UN agencies will also take note. Perhaps
inadvertently, they often get locked into exclusive rights
arrangements with single production companies or
broadcasters. This should be avoided.

I am proud to announce that all international TV content
produced by TVE Asia Pacific is available to broadcast, civil
society and educational users anywhere in the world without
any license fees or copyright restrictions. We do practise
what we preach. And let us all consider alternative
approaches to managing intellectual property -- such as the
Creative Commons framework now gaining acceptance.

Reducing poverty in our time cannot be done in the
business-as-usual mode. Extraordinary situations require
extraordinary responses. Let us make it so!

Nalaka Gunawardene is Director and CEO of Television for
Education - Asia Pacific (trading as TVE Asia Pacific,
www.tveap.org), a non-profit media foundation that works
regionally using television, video and new media to promote
sustainable development and social justice issues. TVEAP
produces and distributes editorially independent audio-visual
and online content to broadcast, educational and civil
society users in the world's largest region, entirely free of
license fees. Trained as a science writer and journalist,
Nalaka counts 20 years of experience in the media, first in
the mainstream print and broadcast media and then in the
development sector. He writes a blog on media, society and
development issues at: http://movingimages.wordpress.com/
Phone: + 94 11 4412 195 Fax: + 94 11 4403 443 Email:
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