Saturday, June 11, 2011

Copy-paste Culture: Challenges for Creative Intellectuals in India


The last article of this blog, Why Bhaag DK Bose makes Complete Sense, was stolen first by Bollywoodhungama.com and then by hundreds of bollywood news splogs. At first, this infuriated me. But as I explored this mishap in broader contexts, things started making sense to me. Here is the explanation for – why violation of intellectual-rights is so prevalent in India and what effect does it generate on creative intellectuals (of course, this can be generalized over other developing nations as well).
In Indian society, masks are way more valued than creative minds. To make my point clear, I’d like you to have a look at various fields. People go mad after actors, who simply follow instructions; but story & script writers, who create brilliant stories, visualize their effects on masses and develop characters that touch our hearts, go unnoticed. Singers, who do same job as any instrument players, get standing ovations, while we hardly care about the music-composures, who come up with mind-blowing tunes that perturb millions of hearts. Our society over-appreciates what it sees, and fails to value the major contributions of people behind the scene. This shows lack of critical thinking ability of our masses. All the name, fame and money follow the mask, and not the mind. This gives a clear message – if you wish to be successful, get seen-heard and noticed. It does not matter where you get things (ideas) from, but be the first person to bring those ideas to the masses. Importance is given to the one who brings new things to masses, and not to the one who creates new things. And with money and power the big fish can always hide its knowledge-source and earn all credits.
Such social scenario is very discouraging for creative intellectuals (CI), if they are unable to reach out to the masses. Eventually, they may feel – “why should I put in so much of efforts, when others are beneficiary of it, and not I?” They might explore some of the following routes:
  • Succumb to the copy-paste culture: Giving up sounds very detested option in theory, but it is always an obvious path taken by the majority of people. A creative intellectual may begin applying all his/her creativity in finding newer ways of copying and hiding sources. After all, even if one finds no gain in money or fame, this option reduces cognitive labour. In short, lesser headache for same (or possibly more) rewards.
  • Stop sharing: Some CIs may simply stop sharing their creations and innovations with the society. “People have no intellect to understand and appreciate my contribution. I will keep my work undisclosed and wait for a favourable time. And if that time never comes, my creation will die with me but I won’t let big fishes take credit for my work” – this can be their response to the society’s negligence.
    • In India, even in schools you will find this trend. Very few students would do their assignments independently. The rest of the class would either get things done with the help of parents/tutors or copy from digests/guide-books or from the notebooks of their colleagues. Now, the students, who have done work independently, would be very reluctant in sharing their work with their class-friends. This is because, like our society, the teacher focuses on whether things are done (or not done) and not on how things are done. The result is highlighted and not the process. I have complete empathy towards those very few CIs in our classrooms.
  • Find a place where CIs see appreciation: ‘Get settled in a place/country where your contribution is appreciated’- this is one of the biggest reasons why many CIs settle-down in developed countries. No country can afford to lose its top intellectuals.
All three scenarios mentioned above are nightmare for not just CIs, but for the whole society. Especially, when the world is moving rapidly towards a ‘knowledge economy’ era, a developing country like India needs to begin valuing minds. Today, India needs an intellectual revolution. I have following suggestions:
  • Value for intellectual-rights must be nurtured in children at homes and schools. Programmes/courses should be designed such that creativity is encouraged in students. Every new idea should be valued and student who generates idea should be encouraged in schools. Students should be trained to write essays with references.
  • Government and civil society should join hands to run campaign for spreading awareness about intellectual property rights, privacy rights and for inculcating respect for others’ intellectual properties in masses.
  • Clear cut procedures should be available for reporting complaints about copy-rights violations at every level. Needless to mention, appropriate actions must be taken without delay.
  • The society needs to realize its greatest assets, Creative Intellectuals; and must revere their contributions.
  • Lastly, CIs themselves must raise their voice and be more assertive for securing intellectual-rights. After all only they can carve their unique place in the Indian society.

I welcome your comments....

10 comments:

  1. Great article sir. Totally agree with you on it.

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  2. Fantastic article
    Agree with u bro....

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  3. Thanks guys... Keep reading & sharing.

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  4. I agree with you completely. I've had the accumulative misfortune of being ripped off & I've had to close down my blog and have stopped sharing my stuff with people (online and offline). Even the messages I've put up on facebook on various occasions haven't been spared - people simply copy-paste them as their own, later spreading them as greeting sms. I read your article on DK Bose on bollywoodhungama & was surprised to find an article with such insight and creative writing on the website, which was not in sync with the rest of the website's content. Of course it seemed fishy & it came as no surprise when I found out that they had just lifted the entire piece from your blog. With the advent of the web, the anonymity it brings to anyone who wants it, plagiarism is just a mouse click away.

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  5. Kathan as usual I do not agree with you entirely. First the concept that plagiarism does not exist in the developed countries is entirely wrong. It does occur here and I believe more so than back home.

    I agree that people do tend to succumb to pressures and not raise their voices against plagiarism, but if that stops a person to express himself or herself then s/he is has lost the battle before it began. In today's competitive world expressing on the right platform is necessary, and if your ultimate aim is to be heard well you have been heard in some way or the other, no one can steal anything that is really yours. If it is in you, you will be heard.

    Let's take your example, you should be happy that Bollywood Hungama tried to steal your idea, cause that gave you a louder voice and now tell me really don't you feel a significant rise in number of people who recognise your blog. You got free publicity Kathan. (Sorry not trying to be rude) Basically if you think positively everything happens for good and the good this brought to you is more recognition.

    Keep it up!

    (Damn I forgot how to post this with my name. Hope I have done it correctly)
    Ritika

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  6. @ Siddharth- I am glad we share some resonance. I can feel ur pain. Thanks for sharing...

    @Ritika- I am so blessed to have u. At least, someone disagrees with me (though partially). Firstly, I never said plagiarism does not happen in developed world. I said that CI's see their work being appreciated more there than here, as people are more aware of copy-right laws (also laws are stricter).
    Secondly, yes, I feel things turned out positively in the end. My efforts did not go in vain. And that's why my last point in the article becomes very crucial - 'CIs themselves must raise their voice and be more assertive for securing intellectual-rights. After all only they can carve their unique place in the Indian society'.

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  7. I am pleased with the article. I totally agree with your points.

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  8. Its a really great concept,so impressed your article.I am waiting for your new article in future well.

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  9. @ Programmer & Developer- I can surely see how you find resonance with this article. We all got to keep pushing for the intellectual-rights in our respective careers. My best wishes are with you...

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  10. I absolutely enjoyed reading and hope you keep updating it frequently! I absolutely liked the abstraction you accept aloft here. It is actual accessible and advantageous one.
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