The Digital Public Domain: Foundations for an Open Culture - Open Book Publishers

Digital technology has made culture more accessible than ever before. Texts, audio, pictures and video can easily be produced, disseminated, used and remixed using devices that are increasingly user-friendly and affordable. However, along with this technological  democratization comes a paradoxical flipside: the norms regulating culture's use — copyright and related rights — have become increasingly restrictive.

This book brings together essays by academics, librarians, entrepreneurs, activists and policy makers, who were all part of the EU-funded Communia project. Together the authors argue that the Public Domain—that is, the informational works owned by all of us, be that literature, music, the output of scientific research, educational material or public sector information—is fundamental to a healthy society.

The essays range from more theoretical papers on the history of copyright and the Public Domain, to practical examples and case studies of recent projects that have engaged with the principles of Open Access and Creative Commons licensing. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in the current debate about copyright and the Internet. It opens up discussion and offers practical solutions to the difficult question of the regulation of culture at the digital age.

TOC:

Foreword Charles Nesson Introduction Melanie Dulong de Rosnayand Juan Carlos De Martin Manifesto and Policy Recommendations I. Introducing the Digital Public Domain 1. Communia and the European Public Domain Project: A Politics of the Public Domain Giancarlo Frosio II. Legal Framework 2. Consume and Share: Making Copyright Fit for the Digital Agenda Marco Ricolfi 3. Evaluation of the Directive 2001/29/EC in the Digital Information Society Lucie Guibault 4. Building Digital Commons through Open Access Management of Copyright-related Rights Giuseppe Mazziotti III. Developments and Case Studies 5. Contractually-constructed Research Commons: A Critical Economic Appraisal Enrico Bertacchini 6. Social Motivations and Incentives in Ex Situ Conservation of Microbial Genetic Resources Tom Dedeurwaerdere, Per M. Stromberg and Unai Pascual 7. Open Knowledge: Promises and Challenges Rufus Pollock and Jo Walsh 8. Science Commons: Building the Research Web Kaitlin Thaney 9. The DRIVER Project: The Socio-economic Benefits of a European Scientific Commons Karen Van Godtsenhoven 10. CC REL: The Creative Commons Rights Expression Language Hal Abelson, Ben Adida, Mike Linksvayer and Nathan Yergler 11. The Value of Registering Creative Works Roland Alton Scheidl, Joe Benso and Martin Springer