Dusollier (2010)
Contents
Source Details
Dusollier (2010) | |
Title: | Scoping Study on Copyright and Related Rights and the Public Domain |
Author(s): | Dusollier, S. |
Year: | 2010 |
Citation: | Dusollier, S., WIPO (2010) CDIP/4/3/REV./STUDY/INF/1. |
Link(s): | , |
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Linked by: | Angelopoulos (2012) |
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Cross Country Study?: | No |
Comparative Study?: | Yes |
Literature review?: | No |
Government or policy study?: | Yes |
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Abstract
Main Results of the Study
Protection of the public domain comprises two steps, as laid down by the Development Agenda: first, identifying the contours of the public domain, thereby helping to assess its value and realm, and, second, considering and promoting the conservation and accessibility of the public domain.
The present study will follow the same direction as it will first assess the scope of the public domain, as defined by copyright laws, history and philosophy, before turning to the issue of its effectiveness and greater availability to the public and society at large. This will lead to the formulation of some recommendations that, by viewing the public domain as material that should receive some positive status and protection, might help to support a robust public domain, as advocated by the Development Agenda.
Our purpose is not to define what should be or not be in the public domain, nor to look at the causes of the shrinking of the public domain, or only incidentally. This study is situated beyond the debate as to what should be copyrighted or not, to what extent and for how long. It will not deal with the question of determination of those limitations to intellectual property (as to the scope of the rights, the object of the protection, the adequate duration of the right, etc.). Such delineation is fundamentally a matter for policy that has to be decided by States, both at an international and national level. As a consequence, the public domain that will be sketched here is not only what is left after the contours of copyright have been drawn, but is a repository of resources of its own.
Accordingly, the recommendations formulated at the end of this study will not focus on the scope of copyright and the way to curb it, but will rather try to develop strategies to make the public domain itself flourish and be made more available to the public. This study will also be limited to the public domain as resulting from copyright legal regimes and not by patent or trademark.
Part I of this study will give an evaluation of the role of the public domain in copyright, starting by a definition of what public domain is and what it should be distinguished from. The public domain in the history and justification of copyright will also be provided. Part II will identify the components of the public domain, notably based on an illustrative comparison of national legislation. It will also analyse other legislatively granted rights and/or interests that may modify and interfere with the level of accessibility and usability of the copyright-related public domain. Part III will provide a survey of non-legislative and private ordering initiatives, which provide for greater access, use, identification and location of the public domain and other creative material whose conditions of use are akin thereto. Part IV will sketch a possible future for the public domain, by developing the impetus it is gaining in legislative and judicial contexts, the key principles that could govern it for a more positive status, and finally by formulating recommendations in regard to future activities on the public domain in relation to copyright that may be carried out by the World Intellectual Property Organization.