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Intellectual Property
By
Charlotte Waelde and Hector MacQueen
Edited by Charlotte Waelde and Hector MacQueen, University of Edinburgh, UK
A meticulous and scholarly examination of the concept of intellectual property. A thorough historical analysis combined with balanced discussion of contemporary debate on the issue, especially in the modern world when technology and the very definition of intellectual property is changing faster than ever before. . . Highly recommended for college libraries and anyone seeking an in-depth, exhaustively researched account on the subject. – Library Bookwatch
Of all cultural assets, the public domain is at once the most valuable and the most contentious. It is the source from which authors, inventors, designers and creators derive the building blocks with which they construct their intellectual edifices. Yet the status of so much of its content is ambiguous: each integer within the public domain may be free for all to use; it may be fused with other units to form a piece of intellectual property – or it may even simultaneously be both. The panel of contributors presents the views of creators and of consumers, of believers and of iconoclasts, of those who wish to retain the sanctity of the public domain as an open resource and those who see its justification not in what it contains but in what can be extracted from it for private gain. It is impossible to read this volume without putting one’s cherished notions at risk. – Jeremy Phillips, Olswang; Intellectual Property Institute and IPKat weblog
As technological progress marches on, so anxiety over the shape of the public domain is likely to continue if not increase. This collection helps to define the boundaries within which the debate over the shape of law and policy should take place.
From historical analysis to discussion of contemporary developments, the importance of the public domain in its cultural and scientific contexts is explored by lawyers, scientists, economists, librarians, journalists and entrepreneurs. The contributions will both deepen and enliven the reader’s understanding of the public domain in its many guises, and will also serve to highlight the public domain’s key role in innovation.
This book will appeal not only to students and researchers coming from a variety of fields, but also to policymakers in the IP field and those more generally interested in the public domain, as well as those more directly involved in the current movements towards open access, open science and open source.
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