Cultural Commons

Cultural commons consist of works and ideas that are available for global access because they are either in the public domain or are governed by free or open licenses that enable their reproduction, distribution, and often modification. Wikipedia is an example of a cultural commons that is created by contributors around the world and shared with a royalty-free license. Cultural commons enables legal collaboration and sharing across borders by granting permission to works that otherwise would be the exclusive property of their rights owner.

Cultural property can be sorted into three categories. First, there is the vast store of unowned ideas, inventions, and works of art we have inherited from the past that are part of public domain. Anyone can use them without fear of stepping on anyone else's property rights. Public domain works are part of the commons. Second, there are cultural works that are governed by a property right. For example, physical objects are owned by someone, and copyright protects works for certain time. The third category of cultural works is self-made commons. These works would otherwise fall under the copyright or some other property law, but their owners have chosen to release their works for others to enjoy and use. Typically, this is done by releasing the works into public domain or by using public and permissive licenses.

The default copyright system that is based on automatic exclusivity does not serve collaboration as such. Many have criticized the current international copyright regime for its overreaching scope and duration. Collaborative communities have had to develop alternative systems to facilitate easy sharing and collaboration. Extensive and expanding copyright spurred countermovements into existence. The founding of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) in 1985 and the Open Source Initiative (OSI) in 1998 led to the birth of the software commons movement. At the same time music, photos, and other non-software-related works were being shared more and more by amateurs, and the need for licenses designed for non-software and especially for scientific publishing grew. In 2002, Creative Commons introduced a set of licenses that have become the standard of open content licensing. Creative Commons also hosts Science commons project that designs strategies and tools for faster, more efficient web-enabled scientific research and collaboration.

Public goods are defined in terms of two characteristics: nonrivalry and nonexcludability. Digital content provides an example of the characteristic of being nonrivalrous in consumption. Cultural commons carrying capacity is endless. If you sing my song, it does not “consume” the song; it remains available for others to use. One of the relevant characteristics of commons is that no single person has exclusive control over the use and disposition of any particular resource held in common.

Commons and public goods are not synonymous. The main difference is that commons may be excludable, whereas public goods cannot be. Copyrighted work is an example of a public good. Although it is nonrivalrous in consumption, it does not always possess the quality of being nonexcludable, as copyright law enables exclusion by its very nature. Both open content and source movements use excludability to serve their causes. Goods where consumers might be excluded but the consumption by an additional consumer does not add any cost to its provisions are called club goods. Cultural commons share both club good and public good elements. Commons can be divided into four types: those open to anyone, those open to only a defined group, those that are regulated, and those that are unregulated.

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