Copyrighting ideas? Copyright on information technology products and its consequences for future creativity Online publication date: Tue, 01-Dec-2009
by Christophe Geiger
International Journal of Intellectual Property Management (IJIPM), Vol. 4, No. 1/2, 2010
Abstract: Ideas and information are at the heart of the knowledge economy and are increasingly sought after. Information also lies at the centre of intellectual property, even if it has been traditionally left outside the field of exclusivity. In addition to a recent evolution, some basic principles have progressively fallen from view and the subject has experienced a deep mutation. Copyright, originally designed to protect the author and to provide incentives for him to create for the benefit of society, is nowadays more and more used as a mechanism to protect investment, without taking into account the impact on future creativity. This change of paradigm has had a certain influence over the free use of information, which has been called into question in many regards. This contribution seeks first to briefly trace back this evolution, acknowledging the tendency towards a privatisation of information through copyright (understood here in an extended sense, including neighbouring and sui generis rights) and tries to propose remedies.
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