Knowledge and practices of copyright protection system and literacy among practitioners in the creative industry

Copyright protection in the creative industry in Malaysia is being protected by the Malaysia Copyright Act 1987. Through this study, the literacy of the copyright protection system and practices of the creative industry in Malaysia has led to new horizons and an understanding of how intellectual property in the knowledge-based economy can be expanded to a promising future and source of wealth within the creative industry. This study aims to explore the depth of understanding of copyright policy and practices literacy among the audio-visual industry practitioners that are being applied in the creative industry using the media literacy theory. Conservative media literacy theory suggests the use of media literacy is to educate the mass on how to use the media. However this study explores another dimension of media literacy in the perspective of critical thinking that aligns with the 21st century skills that requires every individual to empower. The Creative industry practitioners suggest that literacy in copyright protection systems and practices, especially among audio-visual practitioners, needs to be improved and that this lack of literacy of copyright protection contributes to many misunderstandings in protecting copyrighted work. This situation would reduce the chances of gaining more profit in the creative industry. Academic research and government reports supported this statement and scenario claimed by the creative industry practitioners. The informants of this study were divided and designed into three (3) clusters, which were content creators (C), agencies (A), and distributors (D). The three (3) clusters here are the stakeholders in the creative industry. Questions curated for the informants were semi-structured. Additional questions related to this were asked during the interview session. Focus group interviews and one-to-one interviews were conducted with purposive sampling from the C, A, and D of the study design. Twenty-seven (27) informants were interviewed in this study for about three (3) months. Thirteen (13) informants were from the content creators cluster, eleven (11) informants from the agencies cluster, and three (3) informants were from the distributor cluster and analysed using the website version of ATLAS.ti software. This qualitative study uses the case study approach and uses thematic analysis to analyse the data. A total of one hundred eighty-five (185) codes were discovered, and twenty (20) code groups were discovered in this study. Four (4) emergent themes were identified from the study conducted. The themes were challenges in the creative industry, legislation and laws in intellectual property protection, practising business and management in the creative industry, and last but not least the challenges of content creators to sustain wealth longevity and relevance in the creative industry. From the study, the research identified that the problems confronted by the creative industry players differ regarding copyright protection. Therefore, due to these differences, their needs and demands are different. It was suggested from the study that copyright registration to the authorities of Malaysia’s policymakers and caretakers and copyright protection literacy is not limited to copyright protection only but also serves as a boosting and enhancing tool to elevate the commercialisation of the copyrighted work. At the end of the study, the researcher suggested a framework that would indicate the business perspective code of conduct for protecting their copyrighted work that would benefit the creative industry stakeholders, government stakeholders, and the nation's income to commercialise their copyrighted work.

Text 123417.pdf Download (1MB) Official URL or Download Paper: https://ethesis.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/18726

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