Mapping the Digital Public Domain: Threats and Opportunities
Mapping the Digital Public Domain: Threats and Opportunities
复制标题
绘制数字公共领域：威胁与机遇
DOI：
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发表时间：
2003
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Pamela Samuelson
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Pamela Samuelson
公共领域究竟是一片无用的废墟，还是所有新创造的源泉，这是一些争论的主题。(1)那些坚持前一种观点的人并不担心这个领域的“威胁”，就像他们不会担心那些去垃圾场寻找废弃财产的拾荒者一样。有趣的是，后一种观点的支持者对这一领域的“威胁”并不一致。有些人认为，财产化存在于公共领域的价值将产生更多的社会效益，而不是让内容在那里枯萎，而另一些人则认为财产化本身是对公共领域的主要威胁。(3)冒着看起来是一个反对者的风险，我同意所有三种观点：公共领域中的一些东西是碎片;公共领域中的一些有价值的东西如果在某种程度上被财产化，可能会得到更好的利用;公共领域的其他部分需要保持开放和不可拥有，作为未来创作的来源。在解释为什么我接受这个看似矛盾的观点的过程中，我将提供一个公共领域的地图。(4)这张地图是讨论各种影响数字公共领域的法律的和政策发展可能产生的影响的有益前奏。有些举措会对数字公共领域产生不利影响，而另一些则可能不会。本文将确定一些值得关注的公共领域威胁。它还将庆祝数字化和数字网络在扩大公共领域和使项目能够保护数字共享方面所做的贡献。在某些方面，数字信息和数字网络使公有领域更有活力和活力，如果各种数字公域倡议实现其目标，公有领域可能会前所未有地蓬勃发展。II绘制公共领域地图以帮助了解其在数字环境中的现状在很大程度上，公共领域一直是一个未知的领域。有时它看起来像是一个没有名字的大小和维度的未分化的斑点。(5)更多的时候，关于公有领域的论述集中在其组成部分或特征中的一个或少数几个。(6)正如一些学者所承认的，公有领域实际上由各种各样的内容组成。(7)此外，公有领域在不同的时间和不同的国家有不同的规模。(8)有时，公共领域会扩大，如专利或版权到期时，或在Feist Publications，Inc.等决定之后。在美国的“乡村电话服务”案中，该案件认为，非创造性的事实汇编不受美国版权法的保护。(9)有时它会缩小，比如欧盟颁布指令要求欧盟成员国保护数据库的内容，或者美国法院决定商业方法可以申请专利。(11)公共领域也有一些模糊的领域。例如，一些智力创造在理论上属于公共领域，但实际上并不属于公共领域。(12)虽然我将公有领域定义为内容不受知识产权保护的领域，但在公有领域的边界附近还有另一个模糊地带，包括法院出于某些目的（但不是全部目的）将其视为公有领域的一些智力创造。(13)在公共领域的另一边，有几类内容的使用范围如此之广，以至于实际上它们似乎是公共领域的一部分。(14)重要的是，这包括许多在技术上受版权法保护但公众可以广泛获得的内容，例如当这些内容张贴在所有访问者都可以访问的公开网站上时，没有费用或明显的使用限制。在理论上也在公有领域之外，但实际上似乎在公有领域之内的还有开源软件;在合理使用、实验性使用和其他版权规则下的特权使用半影，这些规则允许未经许可的使用和信息共享发生;以及在不支付版税的情况下许可的标准。…
INTRODUCTION Whether the public domain is a virtual wasteland of undeserving detritus or the font of all new creation is the subject of some debate. (1) Those who adhere to the former perspective do not worry about "threats" to this domain any more than they would worry about scavengers who go to garbage dumps to look for abandoned property. Adherents of the latter view, interestingly enough, are not of one mind about "threats" to this domain. Some believe that propertizing value residing in the public domain will produce more social benefit than letting content languish there, (2) while others regard propertization itself as the main threat to the public domain. (3) At the risk of seeming a contrarian, I concur with all three views: some of what is in the public domain is detritus; some of what is valuable in the public domain might be better utilized if propertized to some degree; other parts of the public domain need to remain open and unownable as sources for future creations. In the course of explaining why I embrace this seemingly contradictory perspective, I will offer a map of the public domain. (4) This map is a useful prelude to a discussion of possible impacts of various legal and policy developments affecting the digital public domain. Some initiatives would have adverse effects on the digital public domain, while others may not. This article will identify a number of threats to the public domain that deserve attention. It will also celebrate contributions that digitalization and digital networks have made in extending the public domain and enabling projects to preserve the digital commons. In some respects, digital information and digital networks have made the public domain more vibrant and robust, and if various digital commons initiatives attain their goals, the public domain may flourish as never before. II MAPPING THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AS AN AID TO UNDERSTANDING ITS PRESENT STATE IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT The public domain has been, for the most part, an uncharted terrain. Sometimes it seems an undifferentiated blob of unnamed size and dimensions. (5) More often, discourse about the public domain focuses on one, or a small number, of its component parts or traits. (6) As a number of scholars have recognized, the public domain consists, in fact, of a vast and diverse assortment of contents. (7) The public domain is, moreover, different sizes at different times and in different countries. (8) Sometimes the public domain grows, as when patents or copyrights expire, or as in the aftermath of decisions such as Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service, which held that uncreative compilations of facts cannot be protected by U.S. copyright law. (9) Sometimes it shrinks, as when the European Union promulgated a directive requiring EU member states to protect the contents of databases (10) or when U.S. courts decided that business methods could be patented. (11) The public domain also has some murky areas. F or example, some intellectual creations are, in theory, in the public domain, but for all practical purposes, do not really reside there. (12) Although I define the public domain as a sphere in which contents are free from intellectual property rights, there is another murky terrain near the boundaries of the public domain consisting of some intellectual creations that courts have treated as in the public domain for some, but not all, purposes. (13) Across the border from the public domain are several categories of content that are so widely usable that, for practical purposes, they seem to be part of the public domain. (14) This includes, importantly, much content that is technically protected by copyright law but is widely available to the public, as when it is posted on publicly accessible web sites available to all comers without fee or apparent restrictions on use. Also outside the public domain in theory, but seemingly inside in effect, are such things as open source software; a penumbra of privileged uses under fair use, experimental use, and other copyright rules that permit unlicensed uses and sharing of information to take place; and standards that are licensed without payment of royalties. …