Summary
Contents
Subject index
Formally, ownership of ideas is legally impossible, and can never be globally secured. Yet, in very real and significant ways these limits have been undone. In principle, ideas cannot be owned, yet, undoing the distinction between ideas and tangible manifestations, the distinction which underpins the principle, allows the principle to hold even whilst its meaning is hollowed out. Post–Cold War global network capitalism is premised upon regulatory structures designed to enforce deregulation in global markets and production, but at the same time to enforce global regulation of property and intellectual property in particular. However, this roll–out has not been without resistance and limitations. Globalization, the affordances of digital networks, and contradiction within capitalism itself – between private property and free markets – promote and undo global IP expansion. In this book David and Halbert map the rise of global IP protectionism, debunk the key justifications given for IPRs, dismiss the arguments put forward for global extension and harmonization; and suggest that roll–back, suspension, and even simply the bi–passing of IP in practice offer better solutions for promoting innovation and meeting human needs.
Copyright Controversies Today
Copyright Controversies Today
Despite its intended purpose – to protect the creators of works of authorship – copyright fails to protect the vast majority of those working in the creative industries today. Even those who earn royalties from copyright are most often worse off than if they were earning wages for the manual/physical performance of their art. Predominantly, copyright acts to protect large IP holders, namely publishers, broadcasters, record and film companies, etc. However, the contradictions of global network capitalism and resistance from an increasingly globalized and networked citizenry bring security for even the largest IP holders into question. New technology allows the ease of free circulation, and halting such circulation requires aggressive, largely futile and counterproductive surveillance, legal and educational campaigns. ...
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