Property Rights and the Efficient Exploitation of Copyrighted Works: An Empirical Analysis of Public Domain and Copyrighted Fiction Best Sellers
Property Rights and the Efficient Exploitation of Copyrighted Works: An Empirical Analysis of Public Domain and Copyrighted Fiction Best Sellers
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产权与版权作品的有效利用：公共领域和版权小说畅销书的实证分析
DOI：
10.2139/ssrn.955954
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发表时间：
2007
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
P. Heald
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
P. Heald
经济学家和政策制定者最近为延长版权保护范围进行了辩护，以确保对现有作品的有效利用。他们断言，公共领域的作品可能由于缺乏产权而未被充分开发，或由于拥堵外部性而被过度开发。这项研究对1913-1922年出版的166本公版畅销书和1923-1932年出版的168本版权畅销书的可用性、版本数量和价格进行了比较。它还比较了1913-1922年20件最持久的公共领域作品与1923-1932年20件最持久的受保护作品。公版图书仍在印刷的比例要高得多，每本书的版本明显更多，而对于特别耐用的作品子集，公版作品的成本要低得多。尽管数据显示，这两种图书的可获得率很可能对复制和发行成本的降低很敏感，但研究得出结论，对小说的保护超出了确保其创作所需的期限，并不是因为担心利用不足而是正当的。还考虑了数据所呈现的拥堵的可能性。
Economists and policymakers have recently defended the extension of copyright protection to assure the efficient exploitation of existing works. They assert that works in the public domain may be under-exploited due to the lack of property rights or over-exploited due to congestion externalities. This study compares the availability, number of editions, and prices of 166 public domain bestsellers published from 1913-1922 with 168 copyrighted bestsellers from 1923-1932. It also compares the 20 most durable public domain works from 1913-1922 with the 20 most durable protected works from 1923-1932. A significantly higher percentage of the public domain books are still in print, with significantly more editions available per book, and for the sub-set of especially durable works, the public domain works are significantly less expensive. Although the data show that rates of availability for both kinds of books are likely sensitive to reductions in the cost of duplication and distribution, the study concludes that protection of fiction beyond the period necessary to ensure its creation is not justified by concerns about under-exploitation. The possibility of congestion presented by the data is also considered.