148 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
148 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
Title: Copyright Advice for Small Leagues
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There's enough in common that hacking sometimes feels like derby's big
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brother, and watching derby struggle with copyright law makes me want
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to chime in with some hard-learned advice that computer nerds worked
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through in the 90s.
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A modern derby bout requires people from all different walks of life
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to come together, and so this sport--which began
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with a strong punk "skater-run" ethic--has had to bring in creative type
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from all sorts of different cultures which don't necessarily share the
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same values. This is causing friction, but I think I know
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how to solve it: stick to derby's roots and insist on volunteer work,
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even if the professional stuff would look nicer.
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Some Background on Copyright
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----------------------------
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In most parts of the world, when you create something--like a logo,
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some software, a blog post, or a web page--you get the right to decide
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who is allowed to copy it: the copyright. In order to use someone
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else's work, be it on its own or as a part of your own work,
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you need their permission. Generally speaking, authors will pick one
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or both of the following two options:
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1. Grant permission if you pay money
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2. Grant permission if you agree to certain terms, usually some
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combination of:
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* Give them credit for their work
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* Not make money from anything your work is in
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* Don't prevent anyone from copying/sharing your work
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This has resulted in an observable cultural split. On one hand,
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you have a [market ecomony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_economy),
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in which using someone's work without paying them is bad,
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often called "piracy". On the other hand, you
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have a [gift economy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy),
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in which using someone's work is high praise, and creates a
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debt to humanity that can only be repayed by
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[paying it forward](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_It_Forward).
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How This Pertains to Roller Derby
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-------------------------------------
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To avoid drama, your league needs to be aware of copyright law,
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and who is reserving which rights on what works.
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A few years ago, apparently ASCAP was aggressively bullying Roller
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Derby leagues to pay a "performance fee" for having music at their
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bouts. This is shady for a lot of different reasons, none of which
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merit getting into in this article, but it serves as an excellent
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example of why leagues need to be fully aware of what works they're
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using and what the terms are for using those works. (In a little
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while, I'll be offering a bittorrent download of a double-header's
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worth of Creative Commons music for leagues to use, allowing you to
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cheerfully tell ASCAP to get bent.)
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Maybe your graphic artist is a "market economy" type of gal, and your
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computer nerd is a "gift ecomony" guy. The graphic artist is going to
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want tangible payment, but the nerd is going to be happy to be doing
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something useful. What happens when the nerd finds out you've been
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giving money to the artist for the time she's spent on art, but he
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hasn't been getting a dime for his hours? Or what if your league
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thought that the donations from both the nerd and artist were given
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freely and without expectations? The answer to both questions is the
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same: butthurt and drama.
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At this point I need to reveal that I am a "gift economy" thinker.
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People interested in my creds just need to visit [my
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homepage](http://woozle.org/~neale/) or do a web search on my name to
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see my involvement in free culture. Suffice it to say that I'm
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passionate about this stuff. Derby's do-it-yourself ethic was a
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very comfortable thing for me to get involved with.
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What should you do about this?
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------------------------------
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Small town leagues have no business entering into agreements with any
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artists unless the terms of that agreement are spelled out clearly in
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advance. You need to be up front with all of your artists that you
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have no money and expect them to volunteer their time and skill for
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the love of the game and the gals who play it.
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Acknowledge that your league is a gift economy. Embrace it! You have
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nothing to give in return other than the community of your league, and
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you expect anyone entering that community not to start making demands.
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Everyone should feel a profound debt to everyone else who helps out.
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Beer should be bought. Invitations to parties should be given. But
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you need your dues--and ticket sales, if you have those--to pay for
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things you can't get from volunteers, like insurance, paint, photocopies, and
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tape.
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[Look what can happen](http://www.derbyinfocus.com/2012/08/on-value-of-derby-photos.html)
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when you get a market economy person in a gift economy situation. He's
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laying out his argument very reasonably, because there's nothing
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unreasonable about market economies. But he's missing the point that
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(most) leagues are gift economies. Read between the lines here:
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those leagues are losing their photographer because, suddenly, he's
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demanding payment or increased gratitude. I'll bet those leagues had
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a couple really long drawn-out meetings about this: do the other
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volunteers feel this way? Are we not appreciating our volunteers
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enough? Butthurt! Drama!
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And payment is a Pandora's box. As a gift economy guy living in a
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market economy country, I can tell you that if my league decided to
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start paying certain volunteers, I would probably adjust my view of
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the relationship, and get hacked off that I wasn't valued enough as an
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official, DJ, photographer, and software developer, to be paid too.
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Or, if I knew the full situation, I'd think that photographer was
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being a douchebag by extorting the poor league. Butthurt! Drama!
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Sure, the presentation is going to suffer when you get out-of-focus or
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poorly-framed photos, amateurish artwork, and web sites that look like
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Geocities in 1997. But the skater-run, non-professional feel of small
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town derby is one of its distinguishing characteristics, and makes
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fans feel connected to the team. You want skaters who are doing it
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for the love of the game, why not ask the same of your other
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volunteers?
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You might want create a "volunteer policy" that you share with everyone.
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Here's a start, feel free to use this or base something new off it:
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> Thank you for offering to help with our league! Because we have
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> a tight budget, we can't afford to spend money on anything that can
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> be done by volunteers, even if the quality is less than professional.
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> We rely heavily on our volunteers in order to bring the sport to our
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> fans, and we are truly grateful to everyone who helps us do so!
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Conclusion
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----------
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People have different ideas about how they want their work to be used.
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Some want to be paid. Some just want credit. Still others want to
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make sure nobody makes money. Small town leagues usually don't have
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the money to pay anybody, so to avoid hurt feelings later on, you need
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to be very clear about this right from the start.
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Understand that some folks are going to say you're being unreasonable.
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But it's better to get a little of this early on, than to deal with the
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big drama that will crop up later once it's clear to everybody what
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everybody else expects.
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