Chokepoint Capitalism — How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labour Markets and How We’ll Win them Back
by Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow
(Scribe, £10.99) 

THE way in which we consume creative works has changed radically and bewilderingly over the past two decades.

From online retail behemoths like Amazon to streaming music and video services like Netflix and Spotify, our cultural habits have changed out of all recognition and are continuing to do so.

What must be equally apparent is that this has had some major deleterious effects on society — one only has to look at the state of any high street in the country to see that.

The independent book, record stores and cinemas that were once the “third places,” provided communal hubs from which street-level creativity often thrived have quickly and alarmingly become a thing of the past.

Another, much-discussed, consequence is the effect on creative labour’s ability to make a living as these big tech behemoths consolidate their cultural hold.

There’s been significant commentary and at first glance, Chokepoint Capitalism might appear to be yet another work in he cottage industry of mournful jeremiads for times past.

But where Giblin and Doctorow’s work distinguishes itself is in the practical meat it puts on these bones. Giblin is a professor specialising in intellectual property at Melbourne Law School and Doctorow has a well-established reputation as an author, speaker and commentator on creative labour in the digital arena. Both bring their respective expertise to add forensic detail to the issue.

The book is split into two parts, the first essentially being a series of case studies on all the big players in “big content” — Amazon, Spotify, Audible and a few more besides.

They’ve certainly done their research and even those who take a passing interest in these things will find much jaw-dropping chicanery that might have previously slipped their notice — such as Audible’s clawing back of royalties from authors on uncompleted audiobooks.

Giblin and Doctorow identify the monopsonies (markets with essentially only one buyer) created by Amazon and their ilk and the anti-competitive “flywheels” with which they stifle meaningful choice and squeeze the earning potential of both independent producers and creative workers themselves.

Much of this involves a deep dive into copyright law, legacy royalty payments and anti-trust legislation that was initially meant to guard against rapacious corporations but has become their key weapon against potential rivals.

If this sounds dull, that’s because it potentially is but Giblin and Doctorow manage to make even the most abstruse legal shenanigans remain readable.

The second part of the book is another area where the book excels. Most books of this nature tends to be able to articulate the problems but are short on solutions. Giblin and Doctorow provide a whole range of them — from laws on greater transparency on contracts to more stringent time limitations on copyright and a guaranteed minimum wage for creatives.

Some of these might sound more feasible than others but that Giblin and Doctorow have brought these measures into the conversation can only be a good thing and an excellent starting point for a fairer settlement.

Ultimately, however, their argument is one for collectivity: “The most important individual action you can take is to join a movement,” they write, and they’re, of course, correct. And, as they point out, it’s an argument that applies not just to creative labour but labour of all kinds.