creativeindustries.qut.com Towards Produsage: Futures for User-Led Content Production Dr Axel Bruns Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology

creativeindustries.qut.com User-Led Content Production emerging in various domains: open source software development online publishing: blogs open news – e.g. Slashdot, Indymedia, OhmyNewsSlashdotIndymediaOhmyNews knowledge management wikis – e.g. WikipediaWikipedia Google Earth multi-user gaming: e.g. The Sims, Everquest, Second Life, SporeThe SimsEverquestSecond LifeSpore creative practice e.g. Flickr, ccMixter, YouTube, JumpcutFlickrccMixterYouTubeJumpcut viral marketing

creativeindustries.qut.com Common Characteristics shared across these environments: users are productive – they create new content, and make this available to others directly engagement is collaborative – users work together in creating content artefacts are unfinished – they are constantly being updated in minor or major revisions this palimpsestic development requires the use of alternatives to traditional copyright licences

creativeindustries.qut.com Whats Happening Here? emergence of: the prosumer (Alvin Toffler)? the citizen-consumer (John Hartley)? pro-am production (Charles Leadbeater & Paul Miller)? customer-made products, produced by a new Generation C (Trendwatching.com)?Trendwatching.com corporations harnessing the hive (J.C. Herz)?

creativeindustries.qut.com Beyond Production such models retain a traditional value chain: producer distributor consumer producer advised by consumer distributor consumer customer-made back to producer distributor consumer

creativeindustries.qut.com Beyond Production such traditional value chains rely on key assumptions: products exist in discrete versions, and producers decide when these are to be released the distribution of products is controlled (and controllable) by producers and distributors, not by consumers consumers are relatively isolated from one another – only producers have access to the whole community the core business lies in the sale of copyrighted products

creativeindustries.qut.com Breaking the Chains content development space set up by community or company (e.g. Wikimedia Foundation; Google) commercial / non-profit harnessing of user- generated content (e.g. The Sims) commercial / non-profit services to support content development (e.g. Red Hat, SourceForge) commercial activities by users themselves (e.g. support services, consultancies, content sales) initial IP contributions from public domain or commercial sources collaborative, iterative, evolutionary, palimpsestic user-led content development valuable, often commercial-grade content is created

creativeindustries.qut.com Produsage beyond production: anyone can edit – users become producers of content usage and production are increasingly, inextricably intertwined strict distinctions between producers, distributors, and consumers no longer apply this is produsage

creativeindustries.qut.com Characteristics of Produsage users are productive: projects are led by users, or involve them as key contributors engage collaboratively: with one another, or with institutional partners; in flexible roles and with varying intensity, in self-organising, often fluid and heterarchical communities

creativeindustries.qut.com Characteristics of Produsage content artefacts remain always unfinished: iterative, evolutionary, palimpsestic development leads to constant revisioning, with a potential for forking into different development directions – thus ending the product revision cycle are prodused under alternative copyright licences: collaborative authorship by volunteer contributors in collaboration with professional developers, building on a recognition of individual contributions while acknowledging the need to enable further palimpsestic development

creativeindustries.qut.com Key Questions for Produsage Is the economic model workable? harnessing, harbouring, harvesting, hijacking the hive reconciling alternative IP licences and commercial exploitation EULAs and commercial ownership of produsage spaces Is the community model sustainable? considerable churn within communities long-term sustainability of volunteer-based produsage development of workable community structures – anarchy, panarchy, heterarchy, benevolent dictatorship?

creativeindustries.qut.com Key Questions for Produsage Consequences of content omnivoracity? need for better understanding of IP licencing options problems with building on proprietary material disregard for IP frameworks amongst produser community Liability for prodused content? responsibilities of the produsage space provider responsibilities of the individual content produser identifying liable parties in collaborative produsage Incompleteness need for use at own risk disclaimers but then, all (produced as well as prodused) artefacts contain room for improvement

creativeindustries.qut.com Further Implications New paradigms: produsage is becoming increasingly widespread, under various guises (Web2.0, social software, open collaborative environments) Education: need for new approaches to educating Generation C focus on collaborative, creative, critical, and communicative capacities of learners Society: industrial informational networked produsage society? move of citizens from consumers to produsers of democracy?