COPYSHOP: A FRANCHISE MODEL FOR CHALLENGING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The Art Gallery of Knoxville
SUPERFLEX and The Art Gallery of Knoxville are proud to celebrate COPYSHOP!
One year ago, the first franchise of COPYSHOP was opened in Knoxville Tennessee. COPYSHOP is a gathering point and international network for those who share a critical view on intellectual property. COPYSHOP sells modified originals, improved copies, political anti-brands – or a SUPERCOPY as the new original.
Please join SUPERFLEX to celebrate the anniversary of COPYSHOP in Knoxville with a discussion hosted by Students for the Study of Law & Culture at the University of Tennessee on November 3.
We will discuss ways of using Law in the practice of Art – and new strategies for the development of experimental cultural space.
The Art Gallery of Knoxville is dedicated to new and emerging Art. It is an open space to cultivate ideas of Art and social engagement. AGoK has worked in collaboration with SUPERFLEX on the development of COPYSHOP in Knoxville. COPYSHOP was initiated in 2005 by Superflex and Copenhagen Brains.
The presentation of SUPERFLEX by Students for the Study of Law & Culture at the University of Tennessee is co-sponsored by the Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law, the School of Art VADSCO Lecture Series, and the Danish Arts Council.
All about COPYSHOP: ‘If Value, Then Copy’
Intellectual property in the form of copyright, licenses and patents has an increasing importance on society. These rights dictate what we say, where we say it, and to whom we say it to. The right over ideas maintains the status quo within the current economic order.
The fundamental legal concept is as follows: ‘if value then right’, or, to put it another way, ‘where there is economic value there is intellectual property’. This expansion has caused different reactions. For example from the Open Source movement where the ownership of code hindered the best possible development of software. This caused, among other things, the operating system linux. In Brazil state sanctioned infringements of intellectual property has enabled the production of cheaper HIV medicine.
We want to confront this development and produce, promote and sell products that challenge the concept ‘If value then right’.