For Those Playing along at Home: Four Perspectives on Shared Intellectual Property in Television Production

Television audiences and fans are increasingly enrolled in the co-production of the television experience. Return-path communication enabled by digital media allows show producers to gather real-time market data about audiences, as well as to solicit creative input from audience members individually and in aggregate. This transformation is not without its challenges: audiences and producers must negotiate shared ownership of the televisual product. The intellectual property implications of interactive TV are therefore considerable: who owns the intellectual property in shows with substantial audience engagement? How can we locate and ascertain the value of intellectual property added by viewer contributions? The authors propose four definitions of intellectual property through which to examine the status of viewer creativity: legal/regulatory, entrepreneurial, accounting and communitarian. The authors conclude that each definition on its own is insufficient to aid strategic planning, so a new model of programme-as-platform is proposed for TV companies working with interactive IP.