The Value of Public Domain Works

媒体公司的创意过程通常被描述为在许可现有知识产权或创造企业拥有的新知识产权之间进行二元选择。然而，存在第三种可能性，即创作者利用公共领域的材料，例如不受版权保护的故事和想法。在2011年为英国政府撰写的《知识产权审查报告》中，伊恩·哈格里夫斯（Ian Hargreaves）提出，“版权法的过度严格适用”可能会“阻碍创新”和“阻碍增长”。更多的创意材料确实可以为英国媒体部门，特别是中小企业提供更多的机会。虽然这种说法在理论上是合理的，但从公共领域的角度来看，还没有对价值创造进行过实证研究。这是知识交流伙伴关系的目的是创造一个基础，以评估在版权法的边缘使用材料给英国经济带来的经济和社会价值。三个相互关联的活动被提出，每一个迭代开发与知识产权局，并通过短期研究人员的支持：1.公共领域作品在商业产品中的利用程度还不太清楚。来自格拉斯哥大学和伯恩茅斯大学的研究人员将对数字互动媒体（视频游戏）中公共领域内容的使用进行实证研究。基于先前发表的评估其他领域版权利用的工作，研究人员将对2003-2013年出版的英国视频游戏应用创新的内容分析方法。将分析信用和内容是否存在许可证，并对故事情节，设置，音乐和其他元素中的公共领域元素进行编码。这一方法将首次允许量化公有领域在一个重要商业市场中的作用。2.利用公共领域作品的商业模式该项目将在英国中小企业和政策制定者之间围绕新兴商业模式交流知识，以促进明智的政策决策，使英国公司受益。此前的学术研究已经证实，媒体中小企业在知识产权方面面临着艰难的决定，特别是在选择是否创作原创材料、从第三方获得许可或从事合同工作时。与英国跨媒体中小企业的定性研究将使项目合作伙伴能够深入了解公共领域作品在媒体价值链中的潜在作用。将采用配额抽样方法，以确保调查结果适用于一系列市场，包括印刷、移动的、电视和互动游戏。3.关于进入公有领域的作品的前瞻性数据目前没有关于公有领域作品的中央数据库。呼吁提供关于即将进入公有领域的作品的信息，促使欧盟各地采取了一些举措，创建“公有领域计算器”，但这些项目的范围仍然有限或不完整。该项目将创建一个公开的数据库，收录自1992年以来进入公共领域以及将于2023年之前进入公共领域的英国文学作品。此外，研究人员还将对工程样本进行定量时间序列分析，以确定工程进入PD之前和之后的经济绩效。该数据库将在一个版权用户门户网站上托管，这是一个联合网络资源，由伯恩茅斯大学和格拉斯哥大学CREATe的教师管理。将举办一个相关的“温室”活动，邀请媒体中小企业围绕一系列公共领域的商业模式进行合作。

The creative process within media firms is often characterised as a binary choice between licensing existing intellectual property or creating new intellectual property owned by the business. However, a third possibility exists, which is that creators draw upon material in the public domain, such as stories and ideas that are not protected by copyright. In the 2011 Review of Intellectual Property for the UK government, Ian Hargreaves suggested that "unduly rigid application of copyright law" may "block innovation" and "hamper growth". The greater availability of creative material may indeed provide greater opportunities for the UK media sector and particularly SMEs. While this claim is theoretically plausible, there have been no empirical studies of value creation from a public domain perspective. It is the aim of this knowledge exchange partnership to create a foundation for assessing the economic and social value that use of materials at the margins of copyright law brings to the UK economy.Three interrelated activities are proposed, each developed iteratively with the Intellectual Property Office, and supported by short placements of researchers:1. Mapping Public Domain ExploitationThe extent of exploitation of public domain works in commercial products is little understood. Researchers from Glasgow University and Bournemouth University will undertake an empirical study of the use of public domain content in digital interactive media (video games). Building upon previously published work to evaluate copyright exploitation in other domains, the researchers will apply an innovative content analysis methodology to UK video games published from 2003-2013. Credits and content will be analysed for the presence of licences, and public domain elements in story lines, settings, music, and other elements will be coded. This method will permit for the first time quantifying the role of the public domain in an important commercial market. 2. Business Models for the Exploitation of Public Domain WorksThis project will exchange knowledge between UK SMEs and policymakers around emergent business models, to facilitate informed policy decisions to benefit UK firms. Prior academic research has already established that media SMEs face difficult decisions around IP, particularly when choosing whether to create original material, license from a third party, or engage in contract work-for-hire. Qualitative research with UK transmedia SMEs will enable the project partners to develop insight about the potential role for public domain works in the media value chain. A quota sampling method will be used to ensure the applicability of findings across a range of markets, including print, mobile, TV and interactive games. 3. Forward-looking data on works entering public domainThere is no central database of works currently in the public domain. Calls to make available information on the upcoming entry of works into the public domain has prompted a number of initiatives across the EU to create 'public domain calculators', however these projects remain limited in scope or incomplete. The project will create a publically available database of UK literary works that entered the public domain since 1992 and those due to enter the public domain until 2023. Researchers will additionally conduct quantitative time series analysis on a sample of works to enable benchmarking the economic performance of works before and after they enter PD. The database will be publically hosted on a Copyright User Portal, a joint web resource to be managed by faculty from Bournemouth University and CREATe at the University of Glasgow.The knowledge exchange scheme will culminate in a major national conference bringing together policymakers, business managers, freelancers and academics. An associated 'hothouse' event will be hosted in which media SMEs will be invited to collaborate around a series of public domain business models.