The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind
By: James Boyle
Let’s just assume for many reasons, that now is a good time to start to rethink things within our society. This seems to be a consistent suggestion by scholars. Boyle makes a good case in “The Public Domain” as he explains the long history of copyright laws and technologies in America. He breaks down the changing definitions of words like ‘fair use’ that have shifted in the courtroom over the years. Chapter two is especially interesting as he returns to the constitution and Thomas Jefferson who warns us of a culture with too many restrictions and exclusive information. Perhaps we should step back to Jeffersonian era and reconsider what should receive proper exclusion from society (copyright). How is it that we have evolved to such a conservative hoarding of personal ideas and research that instead of building up blocks of intellectual thought we stow them away forcing culture to re-invent itself over and over with the exclusion of materials that are now – off limits. Although he does not call for an outright ban of copyright he points out the predictions of the past that have been proven wrong what the world might come to if stricter rules were not implemented with technology.
“I have argued that our policies are distorted not merely by industry capture or the power of incumbent firms, but by a series of cultural and economic biases or presuppositions: the equation of intellectual property to physical property; the assumption that whenever value is created, an intellectual property right should follow; the romantic idea of creativity that needs no raw material from which to build; the habit of considering the threats, but not the benefits, of new technologies; the notion that more rights will automatically bring more innovation; the failure to realize that the public domain is a vital contributor to innovation and culture; and a tendency to see the dangers of openness, but not its potential benefits.” (Chapter 10, Paragraph 23)
In the final chapter Boyle compares the intellectual property debate to the environmental movement. He claims the push into the mainstream and eventually politics should serve as an example for I.P. discourse. He ends his book not on a bad note about where we have come with limiting access but instead to a call for action.
Fittingly Boyle has posted his entire book on-line for anyone to read.
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