Julianna Yau’s blog

Forget for a moment the discussions of user rights, DRM and the WCT.

Forget for a moment the arguments for or against stronger or looser copyright benefiting creators.

Forget for a moment the misuse of copyright as a tool for censorship.

Forget for a moment the concepts of creators working for the benefit of the public.

Forget for a moment the shades of grey involved in creative reuse.

Now think about the word “copyright”.

Now think about the concept of copyright as simply the right to copy and nothing else.

Now fight the urge to remember all those things you’re temporarily forgetting for this exercise.

The right to copy.

…I don’t know about you, but I can’t help but wonder about the right to copy and the following:

1. The right to copy and resell.
2. The right to copy for personal use.
3. The right to copy for educational use.
4. The right to copy for creative reuse.
5. The right to copy and distribute…for profit.
6. The right to copy and distribute, without profit.

Am I missing anything in that list? I’ll break down each of those in posts to follow.

During one of my more reflective moments, I realized that I have allowed myself to try to untangle copyright issues by tugging randomly at strings rather than approaching it methodically. This is the first of a series of posts where I’ll be attempting to boil down the issues of copyright more systematically.

Note that this is a starting-point, and the list below will likely change/expand after I dissect and discuss the individual points.

Copyright – at its most basic, is simply the right to copy.

The practice and enforcement of copyright consists of:

1. The concept of the right to copy.
2. The intent to protect a creator’s ability to receive financial remuneration from their work. (is this really its own point, or is it a sub-point of the right to copy and copyright law?)
3. Copyright law – rights granted to creators legislatively.
4. The administration of copyright.
5. The impact of copyright on users.

What copyright isn’t about (but has been used to address):

1. Censorship
2. Marketing

Grey areas:

1. Business models
2. Creative reuse (also part of “impact of copyright on users”)
3. Financial stability/security of creators and the creative community [added 26-Dec-2007]