Re: benefits of the public domain and limited copyright terms?

I am not a lawyer, but I am engaged in a long term study of copyright as it impacts on traditional culture, and I am of the opinion that the conceptualisation of public domain may be causing as many problems as the conceptualisation of copyright. Both work on a premise of more or less 'frictionless space', something which is a consequence of market economics. Public domain, especially when equated with 'traditional', also feeds on the idea of Open Access, which traditional cultures most definitely aren't. The application and extension of PD creates problems.

I haven't tackled 'public domain' in my work yet, but will in a few months.

All the best

Anthony McCann
University of Limerick
<anthony.mccann[_at_]ul.ie> Received on Mon May 08 2000 - 09:29:49 GMT