Copyright Provisions in Law Journal Publication Agreements :
Mr. Keele examined copyright provisions of law journal publication agreements and found that a minority of journals ask authors to transfer copyright. Most journals also permit authors to self-archive articles. He recommends journals make their agreements publicly available and use licenses instead of copyright transfers.
URL : http://eprints.rclis.org/18445/
Economic Contribution of Industries Rely…
Economic Contribution of Industries Relying on Fair Use :
This report employs the latest data available to answer a very important question: what contribution is made to our economy by industries that depend on the limitations to copyright protection when engaged in commerce? As this report shows, such industries make a huge contribution. In an era of highly competitive markets for information goods and services, changes to the boundaries of copyright protection will alter
the economic landscape. Broader regulation of economic activity by copyright might encourage additional creativity, but it will deter certain types of technology innovation, and may undermine competition and
free expression. Our information policy must therefore balance the incentives that IP regulation creates against the disincentives that result. For 300 years, copyright law has recognized this fragile balance.
URL : http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2010/04/fairuseeconomy.pdf
European Copyright Code : The European C…
European Copyright Code :
The European Copyright Code is the result of the Wittem Project that was established in 2002 as a collaboration between copyright scholars across the European Union concerned with the future development of European copyright law. […]
The aim of the Wittem Project and this Code is to promote transparency and consistency in European copyright law. The members of the Wittem Group share a concern that the process of copyright law making at the European level lacks transparency and that the voice of academia all too often remains unheard. The Group believes that a European Copyright Code drafted by legal scholars might serve as a model or reference tool for future harmonization or unification of copyright at the European level. Nevertheless, the Group does not take a position on the desirability as such of introducing a unified European legal framework.[…]
This Code is not a recodification of EU copyright law tabula rasa. Since European copyright law must operate within the confines of the international commitments of the European Union and its Member States, the Code takes account of the substantive norms of the Berne Convention and the TRIPs Agreement. Also, the members of the Group have found it hard to ignore the aqcuis communautaire in the form of seven Directives that the European legislature has produced in this field since 1991. However, the Code does on occasion deviate from the acquis, and therefore cannot be considered a mere restatement or consolidation of the norms of the directives. […]
URL : http://www.copyrightcode.eu/
Beyond Fair Use : For centuries, the fai…
Beyond Fair Use :
For centuries, the fair use doctrine has been the main – if not the exclusive – bastion of user rights. Originating in the English court of equity, the doctrine permitted users under appropriate circumstances to employ copyrighted content without consent from the rightsholder. In the current digital media environment, however, the uncertainty that shrouds fair use and the proliferation of technological protection measures undermine the doctrine and its role in copyright policy. Notably, the enactment of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which prohibits the circumvention of such measures even for fair use purposes, has diminished the ability of fair use to act as a counterweight to a copyright owner’s rights in the digital age.
Recognizing the relatively precarious state of the fair use doctrine, many copyright scholars have rushed to resuscitate the doctrine, offering various ways to revamp fair use. As this Article makes clear, these proposals fall short of the mark. To address the shortcomings of the fair use doctrine in the digital age, this Article reconceives of the policy challenge and takes a fundamentally different tack. Rather than tinkering with the fair use doctrine, this Article proposes the creation of a system of new user privileges that would supplement fair use. Specifically, it crafts a framework of adaptive regulation that would cause copyright owners to dramatically increase the access and use opportunities granted to users. This framework would do so by requiring content owners and distributors to acknowledge user needs and even compete among themselves over the creation of new user liberties. Such an approach, this Article explains, is superior to rival suggestions and can best assure ongoing technological development and the preservation of user privileges in the digital age.
URL : http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1557242