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Copyright for the Digital Age - A Call for Legislative Reversibility

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  • Felix Oberholzer-Gee

Abstract

Policymakers tend to adopt too narrow a view of the creative industries when determining the desirability of copyright protection. In these industries, authors will often create new works despite weak protection. As recent developments in the music industry illustrate, markets for complements alone can be sufficiently lucrative to entice artists to remain active even when copyright is seriously weakened. However, the value of complements is difficult to forecast. As a result, lawmakers will often set inappropriate copyright terms. In this note, I call for an approach to copyright legislation that makes it feasible to correct these unavoidable mistakes.

Suggested Citation

  • Felix Oberholzer-Gee, 2011. "Copyright for the Digital Age - A Call for Legislative Reversibility," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 147(IV), pages 417-425, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ses:arsjes:2011-iv-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Copyright; Creative Industries; Regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy

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