![Sample our Law journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5942/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Law.jpg"})
Abstract
The undisputable merit of Lessig's works is his emphasis on the correlation between network technologies, intellectual property laws and the free flow of information, which is a key aspect of the sustainable information society. Technologies backed by intellectual property regimes are portrayed as an instrument allowing exercise of control over the information. These premises, which were clearly articulated by Lessig, form the core of the debate about the appropriateness of current intellectual property regimes. This article revises Lessig's ideas and proposals, but argues that Lessig's suggestions miss the economic aspect of intellectual property: ensuring fair compensation for creativity. The article therefore deals with the intellectual property aspects de-emphasized by Lessig, but having influence on the resolution dilemmas brought to the fore by Lessig and emphasized in recent European political agendas. The conclusions of the article suggest the important role of the compensatory aspects of intellectual property rights in ensuring the accessibility of information and sustainability of digital culture recognized by Lessig.
Notes
1 Peter Drahos, A Philosophy of Intellectual Property, Dartmouth Publishing Company Limited, 1996.
2 William W Fisher, Promises to Keep: Technology, Law, and the Future of Entertainment, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, 2004.
3 William M Landes and Richard A Posner, The Economic Structure of Intellectual Property Law, Harvard University Press, 2003.
4 John P Barlow, The Economy of Ideas, No 2.03, 1994, http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.03/economy.ideas_pr.html
5 Cf. Fisher op cit, note 2.
6 Michele Boldrin and David K Levine, The economics of ideas and intellectual property, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol 102, No 4, p 1252, 2005.
7 Lawrence Lessig, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, Basic Books, 1999.
8 Lawrence Lessig, The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World, Random House, 2001.
9 Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down and Control Creativity, Penguin Press, 2004.
10 Yochai Benkler, Coase's penguin, or Linux and the nature of the firm, Yale Law Journal, Vol 112, 2002.
11 Anupam Chander and Madhavi Sunder, The Romance of the Public Domain, Vol 92, No 5, p 1331, 2004.
12 Content and Control: Assessing the Impact of Policy Choices on Potential Online Business Models in the Music and Film Industries, http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/media/files/content_control.pdf
13 Ibid.
14 Mindaugas Kiškis and Mizaras Vytautas, Autorių Teisių ir Gretutinių Teisių Apribojimo, Susijusio su Kūrinių Atgaminimu Asmeniniais Tikslais, Kompensavimo Mechanizmo I¸gyvendinimo Pasekmių Tyrimas (Review of Consequences of Restriction of Copyright Due to Private Copying), European Committee under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, 2003.
15 P B Hugenholtz, L. M C R Guibault and S M Van Geffen, The Future of Levies in a Digital Environment, 2003, http://www.ivir.nl/publications/intellectual-property.html
16 Cf. Lessig, op cit, in notes 7–9.
17 Digital Rights Management and Consumer Acceptability: A Multi-disciplinary Discussion of Consumer Concerns and Expectations, INDICARE Project Report, 2004, http://www.ivir.nl/publications/helberger/INDICAREStateoftheArtReport.pdf
18 Ariel Katz, The Potential Demise of Another Natural Monopoly: The Present and the Future of Collective Administration of Copyrights, 2003, http://www.innovationlaw.org/Bell_Labs/pages/Potential_Demise.pdf
19 Cf. Lessig, op cit, note 8.
20 M Fetscherin and C Vlietstra, Digital music: key factors determining the download price, E-Business Review, Vol V, forthcoming, 2005, http://indicare.berlecon.de/tiki-read_article.php?articleId = 50
21 Cf. INDICARE Project Report, op cit, note 17.
22 Katz, op cit, note 18.
23 Urs Gasser and Michael Girsberger, Transposing the Copyright Directive: Legal Protection of Technological Measures in the EU Member States, Berkman Publication Series No 2004-10, 2004, http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/media/files/eucd.pdf
25 Cf. INDICARE Project Report, op cit, note 17.
26 Bennett Lincoff, A Full, Fair and Feasible Solution to the Dilemma of Online Music Licensing, 2002, http://www.quicktopic.com/boing/D/uhAMNvWb8yfkc.html
27 Fetscherin and Vlietstra, op cit, note 20.
28 Content and Control: Assessing the Impact of Policy Choices on Potential Online Business Models in the Music and Film Industries, http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/media/files/content_control.pdf
29 The Berlin Declaration, http://www.wizards-of-os.org/index.php?id = 931&L = 3
30 Cf. Fisher, op cit, note 2.
32 Kate Worlock, The Pros and Cons of Open Access. Nature Web Focus: Access to the Literature: the Dabate Continues, 2004, http://www.nature.com/nature/focus/accessdebate/34.html
33 Cf. Fisher, op cit, note 2.
34 Felix Oberholzer and Koleman Strumpf, The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis, 2004, http://www.unc.edu/∼cigar/papers/FileSharing_March2004.pdf
35 Eric Kin Wai Lau, An empirical study of software piracy, Business Ethics: A European Review, Vol 12, No 3, pp 233–245, 2003.
36 Nikolaus Thumm, Intellectual Property Rights: National Systems and Harmonisation in Europe, Physica-Verlag, Heidelberg and New York, 2000.
37 Babachinaite˙, Genovaite˙, Gutauskas, Aurelijus, Jurgelaitiene˙, Gitana, Kiškis, Mindaugas, Starkus, Saulius, Nusikalstamumo ir Kitų Nepageidautinų Socialinių Procesų Prevencijos Problemos Europos Valstybe˙se (Prevention of Crime and Other Negative Social Phenomena in European Countries), Law University of Lithuania, Vilnius, 2003.
38 Steven Shavell and Tanguy Van Ypersele, Rewards versus intellectual property rights, Journal of Law and Economics, Vol 44, p 525, 2001.
39 Robert P Merges, Peter S Menell and Mark A Lemley, Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, 3rd edn, Aspen, pp 1–27, 2003.