Intellectual Property Rights and New Media Art

This paper addresses issues concerning new media art and intellectual property rights, especially in terms of nomenclature. What is new media art? The author examines new media and copyright law to discuss how intellectual property is determined to be copyrightable in terms of new technologies. What is the role of copyright in creativity? How can this role change when considering technologies and practices that eschew or circumvent copyright? Open source software and copyleft will be also addressed in this paper. Does originality change in the Age of Technology and what factors have influenced our concept of originality? The author will come to some conclusions about new media art, in the context of intellectual property rights and copyright.