The danger in media concentration comes not from the concentration, but instead from the feudalism that this concentration, tied to the change in copyright, produces. It is not just that there are a few powerful companies that control an ever expanding slice of the media. It is that this concentration can call upon an equally bloated range of rights - property rights of a historically extreme form - that makes their bigness bad.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Lessig argues media concentration causes harm not by itself but through feudalistic rights tied to copyright, enabling few companies to control vast media slices.
- In plain terms
- Media concentration harms us through extreme copyright rights.
- What can you take from it?
- Extreme property rights empower monopolies over culture.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who controls our culture?
- Are property rights too extreme?
Another view
Consolidation may bring efficiency benefits to media distribution.
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