Thanks to Terry and Mike for noticing and giving thought to my article. I'm glad if it provides any food for thought.
In response to Mike, while I did not use the specific terms "abundance" or "scarcity", I am very focused on the issue that you are referring to with those terms. I call it the issue of "consumptive" versus "beneficial" use. Making use of a work of authorship is not consumptive (i.e., it doesn't consume opportunities for others to make use of the same work). It's precisely because of this important fact that I argue the scope of copyright owners' rights should be kept cabined much more strictly than it is in the realm of traditional tangible property, so that most transformative uses are simply outside the owner's right to exclude.
I'm well aware that property rhetoric can be used (and has been used) in the service of "copyright maximalism" (what I refer to in the article as "expansionism," and what I'm trying to do is drive a wedge between the two.
If you're someone who thinks we shouldn't have copyright at all, then you won't be interested in the thrust of what I'm doing. But if you think copyright might be good if properly limited, then you should be. Property theory (properly understood) provides limits on what owners can claim. Making everything an ad hoc fair use determination creates uncertainty, which leads to rights accretion.
Anyway, thanks again for your interest.
Regards,
Chris Newman
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by cmn.
A few comments
Thanks to Terry and Mike for noticing and giving thought to my article. I'm glad if it provides any food for thought.
In response to Mike, while I did not use the specific terms "abundance" or "scarcity", I am very focused on the issue that you are referring to with those terms. I call it the issue of "consumptive" versus "beneficial" use. Making use of a work of authorship is not consumptive (i.e., it doesn't consume opportunities for others to make use of the same work). It's precisely because of this important fact that I argue the scope of copyright owners' rights should be kept cabined much more strictly than it is in the realm of traditional tangible property, so that most transformative uses are simply outside the owner's right to exclude.
I'm well aware that property rhetoric can be used (and has been used) in the service of "copyright maximalism" (what I refer to in the article as "expansionism," and what I'm trying to do is drive a wedge between the two.
If you're someone who thinks we shouldn't have copyright at all, then you won't be interested in the thrust of what I'm doing. But if you think copyright might be good if properly limited, then you should be. Property theory (properly understood) provides limits on what owners can claim. Making everything an ad hoc fair use determination creates uncertainty, which leads to rights accretion.
Anyway, thanks again for your interest.
Regards,
Chris Newman
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by cmn.
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