Philosophy of copyright
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The philosophy of copyright has several aspects. The foremost of these is the study of "justifications" for the existence of copyright laws. But there are other philosophical questions which arise from copyright, such as determining when one work is "derived" from another, or deciding when information has been placed in a "tangible" or "material" form.
Natural rights are linked to the logic of property. John Locke is often cited as an authority, although it is not clear that Locke actually viewed copyright as a natural right. Personality rights are the basis of German copyright.
Article One of the United States Constitution authorizes Congress "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries".
Nihilist theories deny that copyright is justified, or deny that justification has anything to do with understanding copyright laws, which are simply the results of socio-political processes.
See also
References
- William W. Fisher, Theories of Intellectual Property (http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/tfisher/iptheory.html), in S. Munzer (ed), New Essays in the Legal and Political Theory of Property, Cambridge University Press (2000)
- Peter Drahos, A Philosophy of Intellectual Property, Dartmouth Publishing Co. (1996)