How to Fix CopyrightDo copyright laws directly cause people to create works they otherwise wouldn't create? Do those laws directly put substantial amounts of money into authors' pockets? Does culture depend on copyright? Are copyright laws a key driver of competitiveness and of the knowledge economy? These are the key questions William Patry addresses in How to Fix Copyright. We all share the goals of increasing creative works, ensuring authors can make a decent living, furthering culture and competitiveness and ensuring that knowledge is widely shared, but what role does copyright law actually play in making these things come true in the real world? Simply believing in lofty goals isn't enough. If we want our goals to come true, we must go beyond believing in them; we must ensure they come true, through empirical testing and adjustment. Patry argues that laws must be consistent with prevailing markets and technologies because technologies play a large (although not exclusive) role in creating consumer demand; markets then satisfy that demand. Patry discusses how copyright laws arose out of eighteenth-century markets and technology, the most important characteristic of which was artificial scarcity. Artificial scarcity was created by the existence of a small number gatekeepers, by relatively high barriers to entry, and by analog limitations on copying. Markets and technologies change, in a symbiotic way, Patry asserts. New technologies create new demand, requiring new business models. The new markets created by the Internet and digital tools are the greatest ever: Barriers to entry are low, costs of production and distribution are low, the reach is global, and large sums of money can be made off of a multitude of small transactions. Along with these new technologies and markets comes the democratization of creation; digital abundance is replacing analog artificial scarcity. The task of policymakers is to remake our copyright laws to fit our times: our copyright laws, based on the eighteenth century concept of physical copies, gatekeepers, and artificial scarcity, must be replaced with laws based on access not ownership of physical goods, creation by the masses and not by the few, and global rather than regional markets. Patry's view is that of a traditionalist who believes in the goals of copyright but insists that laws must match the times rather than fight against the present and the future. |
Contents
Replacing a FaithBased Approach to Copyright with an Evidence Based Approach | |
What Are Copyright Laws Supposed to | |
The Public Interest | |
Law Is Not the Solution to Business Problems | |
Abandoning Exclusivity and Getting Paid Instead | |
The Length of Copyright Is Damaging Our Cultural Heritage | |
Reimposing Some Formalities | |
The Moral Panic over Fair | |
The Answer to the Machine Is in the Machine Is a Really Bad Metaphor | |
Effective Global Copyright Laws | |
Notes | |
Does Deterrence Work? | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
advertising album approach artificial scarcity benefit business models Chapter claims closed lists collecting societies companies Copyright Act copyright industries copyright laws copyright owners copyright protection costs courts create creation creative industries creators culture database developing countries digital locks economic Edward Elgar effective European Union example exist fair figure film formalities Francis Gurry gatekeepers global goals Hargreaves Ian Hargreaves incentive increase infringement innovation Intellectual Property intellectual property laws Internet legislation license machine marketplace moral panic movie newspapers percent performers policymakers problem production property rights public domain public interest published record labels result revenue Review rights holders Ruth Towse social sound recordings Statute of Anne superstars technologies term of copyright term of protection Tom Tyler U.S. Copyright unauthorized copying United University Press Warner Music Group websites WIPO YouTube