A Call for Stories in Support of a Robust Public Domain

From: Shelly Warwick <swarwick[_at_]sprynet.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 00:10:20 -0400

STRUGGLES WITH IP LAW
A Call for Stories in Support of a Robust Public Domain  

We know you've got a great story, and we want you to tell it. Public Knowledge, Creative Commons, and The Center for the Study of the Public Domain are collaborating on a public-education campaign that will highlight the struggles of
creators with intellectual property law. We are collecting stories of citizens who are hampered by restrictive intellectual property laws. If you have a personal story of copyright,
trademark or patent laws needlessly hindering your work and ideas, we want to hear from you. Conversely, if your work has benefited from the availability of art and information
in the public domain, we want to know about it. We'd like to hear stories from artists, authors, musicians, filmmakers, computer programmers, entrepreneurs, librarians - or anyone with a personal story involving intellectual
property law. Your stories are important because American copyright, trademark and patent law, grounded in Article I of the Constitution, are designed to promote individual
creativity and innovation: we need to make sure they're functioning in this way.
Unfortunately, the recent expansion of intellectual property laws has had the opposite effect. New laws are discouraging creativity and innovation rather than encouraging it,
and stifling other important values such as freedom of speech. Longer copyright terms, the end of copyright registration requirements, stronger trademark laws and the expansion of patent eligibility are some of the changes that have spurred this trend.
When intellectual property laws curtail creativity, we need to be creative in a different way - by pushing for changes in the laws, ensuring that they are interpreted more narrowly, and working to change a culture in which large copyright and patent owners seek to extract large fees for even the most incidental use of their work.
None of these changes will take place unless we can demonstrate that there is a need for change. Policymakers can be educated about these issues, but in order to make the case,
we need your contribution.
Maybe you are a filmmaker who has been told to pay a large licensing fee for a four second snippet of a copyrighted work. Or the director of a community orchestra who cannot
afford to play any new music. Or maybe you're a writer who has taken the works of Margaret Mitchell, Dickens or Shakespeare and created successful derivative works. Perhaps
you are an artist who has used commercial images like the Campbell's Soup can. We need your stories to embody the problems and successes of copyright, trademarks and
patents for the general public.
Please email your story to pk[_at_]publicknowledge.com with "Public Domain Stories" in the header. We'll present your stories to legislators, press and the general public through
a website, video and other media. Please provide your name and a phone number where we can reach you during the day and tell us if you would prefer to remain anonymous
when we publish your story.
Your story can help others to understand how access to ideas and creativity is being locked up by needlessly restrictive new laws. Questions? Comments or suggestions? Give us a call at (202) 518-0020 or email us pk[_at_]publicknowledge.org.

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Public Knowledge is a non-profit advocacy organization that seeks to ensure that copyright, patent, trademark and technology laws and policies promote the interests of the public. This Washington, D.C.-based group works with a wide spectrum of stakeholders, including libraries, educators, scientists, artists, musicians, journalists, consumers, programmers,

civic groups and enlightened businesses, to promote certain fundamental democratic principles and cultural values - openness, access, and the capacity to create and
compete - and to ensure these principles are reaffirmed in the digital age. For more information, see http://www.publicknowledge.org.  

Creative Commons, a non-profit corporation, promotes the creative re-use of intellectual works whether owned or public domain. It is sustained by the generous support of The
Center for the Public Domain and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Creative Commons is based at Stanford Law School, where it shares staff, space, and
inspiration with the school's Center for Internet and Society. For more information, see www.creativecommons.org.  

The Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke Law School was founded in September of 2002, as part of the schools' wider intellectual property program. Its mission
is to promote research and scholarship on the contributions of the public domain to speech, culture, science and innovation, to promote debate about the balance needed in our
intellectual property system and to translate academic research into public policy solutions. For more information, see http://www.law.duke.edu/cspd/index.html.

Shelly Warwick
Assistant Professor
Graduate School of Library and Information Studies Queens College
Flushing, NY 11367
Voice: 718-997-3757
Fax: 718-997-3797
Shelly_Warwick[_at_]qc.edu Received on Tue Aug 12 2003 - 08:10:20 GMT