Social Capital and Cultural Producers’ Copyright Ownership of Their Creations: Evidence from the Television Industry 1956–1996

This paper explores how social capital and property regulations shape cultural producers’ ability to own copyrights for the products they create. Because individual producers lack the resources required to develop and distribute their creations, they partner with large firms who demand the copyrights for products they invest in. I argue two types of social capital—status and partner substitutability—enable producers to own their creations by increasing their bargaining power over the firms they partner with. Moreover, I propose that different types of property regulations condition whether status or partner substitutability have a stronger role in producers’ ownership outcomes. Analyzing all shows made for American television from 1956 to 1996, I show that increases in showrunners’ status and number of broadcasters they collaborated with increased the probability they owned shows they produced. However, the effects of these social capitals were contingent on the property regulations showrunners operated under. These findings advance our understanding of the allocation of copyrights, the power dynamics between creators and firms, and the effects of social capital in cultural industries. They didn’t have to pay me because I signed the contract. But is that right? I found out that these people were streaming my work, and they never had to ask me…They stole that from me. They just took it! (Dave Chappelle, The Unforgiven, 2021).