Five Essays on Copyright in the Digital Era
Price: 29 Eur + ALV. (Send orders directly to ville.oksanen ät turre.com)
This dissertation by Turre’s partner Ville Oksanen aims to give a detailed view of how well copyright law is working in the digital environment and how its future looks. The work starts by giving the reader a primer on two central topics in the dissertation, i.e., an overview of technological developments that have changed once again the environment of copyright law work and the economic background of copyright and IPRs. Different methodological approaches are also discussed e.g. how behavioral law and economics and public choice theory should be utilized pertaining to copyright regulation.
The main research questions, which are covered in the five original articles, are:
- Do technical protection measures (TPMs) help to solve the impending demise of copyright?
- Is the legal enforcement of copyright possible in current or future digital environments?
- What is the role of social norms in the future of copyright?
Regarding the first question, the dissertation argues that the once-prevailing vision of copyright that was based on the belief that without legally technological protection measures, right holders would not release their content to digital distribution has not really turned out to be true. In the contrary, the opposition from the users and profound technical problems have marginalized TPMs in music stores in more advanced markets (i.e. USA) and same development is likely to happen in other categories of works.
The answer to second question indicates a more profound problem if the copyright holders cannot prevent unlicensed use of their works, the economic rationale of copyright disappears. The dissertation argues that the foreseeable technical development in digital communication and storage technologies will lead to that result with very high likelihood at least among more consumer-oriented works (music, video), which are typically consumed in the privacy of homes. At the same time the development will make current levy-based systems infeasible general tax for technology.
The final question continues from the point where enforcement stops. Social norms may substitute legal norms, which are based on strong enforcement. The dissertation argues that there are positive examples from open source development that which indicate that this approach may be feasible for copyright.
Community Created Content
Designing services that harness the wealth of their users’ creativity is not trivial. Finding a balance between exclusive copyright and open has turned out to bea delicate task. The book “Community Created Content” is written to help its readers to understand the legal, business and policy issues affecting community created content. The aim was to write a handy reference and a useful overview of a complex subject. Main emphasis is on the legal underpinnings of community created content. The book also describes users’ different motives of sharing their works. Several case studies help to illustrate how businesses can adapt to accommodate community created content.
The print edition is currently out of print – however, a free PDF download is here. (2 mb download, be patient)
The Rise of Open Source Licensing
A Challenge to the Use of Intellectual Property in the Software Industry
Open source software – from Linux to Firefox and MySQL database – has changed software business as we knew it. New start-ups have challenged industry heavyweights from Microsoft to Oracle with innovative copyright licensing strategies and courageous anti-patent policies. Almost every major software company has been forced to react to the commodification trend.
Drawing from detailed case studies, historical narrative and the application of economic theory, this book shows how open source licensing is used for strategic advantage. Software developers enter open source to distribute their work more efficiently and increase innovation. Software is no longer property, they say. Interestingly, everything has worked despite – rather than because of – ever-expanding intellectual property rights.
Oikeudet tietokoneohjelmistoihin ja niiden lisensointi
Ohjelmistotuoteliiketoiminan juridinen perusta
Tämä kirja käsittelee ohjelmistotuoteliiketoiminnan juridisia kysymyksiä. Kirjan ensimmäisessä osassa selvitetään yksityiskohtaisesti tietokoneohjelmien tekijänoikeus, patenttioikeus ja muut immateriaalioikeudet. Keskeisiä kysymyksiä ovat muun muassa: Kuinka paljon toisen lähdekoodia saa kopioida loukkaamatta tekijänoikeutta? Missä määrin tietokoneohjelmia voi nykyään patentoida? Eurooppalaista ja yhdysvaltalaista lainsäädäntökehitystä sekä oikeustapauksia on seurattu vuoden 2006 alkuun saakka.