Nice article on copyright abuses by Siva Vaidyanathan in the latest Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle is read mostly by professors, so the article talks at length about the harm to scholarship caused by the recent copyright expansion.
Vaidhyanthan identifies two common arguments used by those opposed to copyright expansion. The first, which he calls commons talk promotes the value of the ever-shrinking public domain. The second (unnamed) strategy is to enlist public support by pointing out how routine and accepted activities of Joe Public, such as backups and party mixes, are endangered.
As the scope of “intellectual property” continues to expand, I think we’ll see a third argument, based on collateral damage. The idea is that new laws, while apparently intended to protect the flank of copyright by giving copyright holders or technology makers new powers to restrict their competitors’ activities, will increasingly choke off beneficial and clearly-legal innovations.
