Culture & copyright

Nearly all revisions of copyright law refer to cultural growth and proliferation. However no theoretical account has been able to accomodate the requirements and circumstances of cultural change in a coherent justificatory theory. The prevailing economic theories fail to capture non-efficiency-related objectives. Non-economic theories do not sufficiently account for the advantages of copyright protection for individual decision making. The work examines the ways in which culture can be fostered by copyright protection. This is done in three steps: Firstly, the work reveals the dimensions of culture (what is culture?). Secondly, an inquiry into the operation of culture (how does culture work?) shows that an interactional model serves best to capture the dynamic working of culture. Finally, the work attempts to lay the ground for a justificatory theory that puts emphasis on the role of copyright law in preventing the ossification of culture. In particular copyright's function to encourage individual creators and mediators to invest in cultural production is stressed. The work however acknowledges the risks of overprotection and posits strict immanent limitations on copyright.