Author:

Nayara Fátima Macedo de Medeiros Albrecht

Abstract:

The field of copyright is composed by different stakeholders with diverse perspectives. Literature on political disputes in this field usually divides these stakeholders into two coalitions: one in defence of strengthening copyright protection, the other advocating for more flexibilities. However, this dichotomy hides a high level of heterogeneity, since each coalition is composed by stakeholders with different degrees of economic resources. This PhD thesis analyses political disputes on copyright legislation in Brazil. I examined the work of
a Special Committee at the Chamber of Deputies in order to identify the main interest groups within this field, as well as their political stances and strategies. This thesis focuses on lobbying of creative industries and the empirical work mapped interest groups and how they interact with members of parliament through lobbying. I analysed the transcriptions of ten public hearings and I conducted interviews with key actors in the process to confirm the information found in these transcriptions. By employing content analysis, I identified the main stakeholders and their speeches and I verified those who contacted the members of parliament directly. Moreover, I found information on the composition of each group, the institutions participating in the process and the personal paths of each political authority who spoke during the public hearings. In the end, I analysed the final report of the rapporteur of the Committee and other documents providing information and important data about the disputes in this field. By reading the final report, I identified which groups were listened to by the politicians and which stances were ignored besides comparing the political actions of groups and coalitions. The conclusion is that although the internet and other technologies contributed to the political mobilisation of new stakeholders in the dispute, the outcomes are still focused on the conflict between two groups with great economic power: the content industry and the commercial users. Other stakeholders are
underrepresented, especially individual creators, artists and final users. This case sheds light on important issues on the understanding of lobbying activities in the context of theoretical frameworks related to the concept of democracy. The analysis confirm that the relationship between lobbying and democracy is ambiguous, once lobbying is an important tool of communication but it is also more available to some groups to the detriment of others.