Poetry in New Media Project Values Statement

The Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute has invited a panel of poets, publishers, and experts from the fields of media law, technology, and other pertinent areas to come together both in person and virtually during 2009. The group is examining issues related to the preparation, distribution, and reception of poetry through existing and evolving media platforms, including the Internet and other electronic forms and devices, with the aim of forging recommendations that both protect the intellectual property of poets and publishers and ensure a vigorous presence for poetry in various forms in all media, including new-media outlets.

Considerations
For the purposes of this group, we are using the term “new media” to refer to any extra-book medium, especially electronic media. The term, then, would include not only Internet and digital media but also radio and film. We understand that the underlying issue in relation to new media is really the new ease of reproduction and dissemination—an ease that both presents new opportunities and challenges old ways of encouraging and rewarding investment in creative work. In the sense in which we are employing the term, then, even a book might potentially become a “new media” document the instant it is scanned into a form that may be quickly, even instantaneously, reproduced, disseminated, and/or altered. During its discussions, this group has also come to understand that the primary issue, that of access to poetry, is one that is important not only in relation to new media but in relation to all media in which poetry occurs, including print media.

• That access to poetry, being crucial to the development of and maintenance of cultural literacy and our cultural heritage, should therefore be considered a cultural imperative
• That, over the long term, efforts to limit access to poetry and other important artistic and cultural works tend to have negative consequences that outweigh imagined positive consequences
• That we want this process to result in practical outcomes, including the following:
  • Recommendations toward developing a community best practices standard in relation to the fair use of poetry in all media
  • Recommendations meant to help poets, publishers, poetry distributors, and other community members think through legal issues as they pertain to permissions, literary estates, licensing, and other matters pertaining to the distribution of poetry
  • A community “to do list” with programming ideas arising out of our conversation but beyond the purview of the HMPI
• That, as per current copyright law, absent an explicit work-for-hire contract obtained and signed without coercion, a creative product belongs to its creator
• That poets and their publishers should be reasonably paid for their work when possible and practical
• That, given the above, poets and publishers should be aware of and prepared to take advantage of the nonfinancial benefits made possible by new media, including but not limited to the following:
  • opportunities for poetry to be experienced in ways it cannot be experienced on the page, including but not limited to video and audio performances, which may bring new audiences to poetry, and thus
  • increased access and exposure to and for poets and poetry, which may lead indirectly to individual opportunities for financial gain as well as to a more vigorous and lively presence for poetry in the culture
• That poets and publishers should also be aware of the risks specifically attending new-media opportunities, including but not limited to the following:
  • Loss of control over what others might do with a poem once it enters the public square, especially in electronic forms
  • Loss of control over some potential income associated with a given poem
  • The potential for increasing control and centralization of new media by those for whom the highest value attaching to poetry is its financial value
  • The potential for increasing control and centralization in and by “centers of money” represented by large nonprofit organizations
• That centralization of power and control over poetry and its distribution may lead to less diversity in and less access to poetry and poets, not more
• That poetry is an ongoing conversation that has always engaged in the practice traditionally referred to as allusion and in new media as “remixing,” a practice that continually renews the energy of the genre
• That we therefore affirm our support for an open and flexible interpretation of fair use under current copyright law
• That, however, remix works, whether respectful or satirical, should provide, when possible, access (through links, citation, or other means) to the original text as it was written, and that, especially in cases of substantive use, those who use the work of others should, if possible, seek permission for that use
• That where a poem appears or is quoted, used, or remixed in any medium, including new media, it should be properly credited and attributed
• That, for the purposes of this document, authorship and ownership are not the same
• That we endorse the philosophy and practice of collaboration among poets; literary organizations, institutions, and associations; educators and educational institutions; policy makers and advocates; publishers; government agencies; donors; readers; and members of the general public