Dominic Young

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I’ve been around the news media and the internet since the beginning. I am interested in copyright as the basis for a thriving and balanced creative sector and society. Also interested in how the failure of copyright and other laws has led to terrible outcomes for the internet and everyone who uses it. I’ve done a lot of things around these issues.

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  • Throwing in the towel

    The Guardian has received much coverage this week for it’s new strategy, to go “digital first” and cut its costs massively. There’s no doubt that the Guardian has an enormous amount of cost they can cut before it shows, and perhaps their CEO’s grim warnings about the fatal consequences if they don’t is as much…

  • Big idea, big support

    The European Commission is sometimes a confusing, strange beast. I have been to meetings and conferences organised by them countless times and have always come away not sure I knew quite what was going on. Recently they have been been looking for Big Ideas to help formulate their digital policy and agenda. This is part…

  • Apple’s Newsstand – the oldest new idea yet

    Apple have announced their Newsstand. It’s a sort of container for newspaper and magazine apps. They’re arranged in a shelf format, a bit like shops. When a new issue comes out you can pay for it (or you might have a subscription). This is hardly rocket science but in the topsy-turvy digital world it’s a…

  • How long should a good thing last?

    The term of copyright is a controversial and much argued issue. How can we minimise any negative consequences without robbing anybody of their property? Copyright lasts a pretty long time. If I live to 75, the copyright in this article will finally expire some time in 2114. After that it will be in the public…

  • Hargreaves sallies forth

    So, it’s out. The Hargreaves review has published its findings today. Unsurprisingly most of the leaks were well informed and it roughly says what I thought. So far it seems to have achieved the remarkable feat of pleasing both the Cory Doctorows of this world (a passionate advocate of liberalising copyright) as well as, from…

  • Right to register?

    The Hargreaves review looks like it’s about to de-cloak. As the umpteenth review of copyright recently, and having been conducted at breakneck speed, the signs are that the outcome is better than we might have hoped. (I had a word or two to say about this review before). Zone of common sense For one thing,…

  • Not enough money in advertising? Duh…

    The Guardian has a report which tells us (apropos my previous post)  that there isn’t enough money in advertising to fund tiny startups. Which rather begs the question why anyone thinks there’s enough in it to fund entire newspapers…

  • Third worst?

    Apparently, UK copyright law is the “third worst” in the world, from the point of view of consumers. A gleeful press release from an organisation called Consumer Focus highlights this, based on some rather subjective research and assumptions, and in particular points to the fact that some kinds of format shifting and backing up are…

  • Who needs payment? There’s always advertising…

    I suppose the central dilemma for creators on the internet is how hard it is to get paid. Becoming popular, unfortunately, doesn’t often equate to becoming rich. This is a bit odd, and one of the key differences between “old media” and the internet, and I think it’s also the central challenge. I mentioned previously that…

  • How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Copy (via James Gannon’s IP Blog)

    I think this puts it very well… I was wrong. After years of reading intellectual property law blogs from some of the greatest legal minds, I’m finally ready to admit that I was wrong. The fight against illegal copying is one that cannot be won. I can no longer deny the simple truth that it…