Intellectual Property and Copyright What is Information? ÒThe symbolic representation, in any medium, of material created by human intelligence and understood by human brains.Ó---Anne Wells Branscomb Information n We love information n Information is powerful n Information's value leads to sharing n But information's value also leads to hoarding, selling Entertainment n Pre-industrial societies rarely compensate entertainers n Today, almost all entertainment is compensated n Not even gossip circulates freely anymore Legal Rights to Information n Protective Rights n Exploitative Rights Protective Rights n 1. Privacy: right to be left alone n 2. Confidentiality: right to keep info 3rd parties n 3. Creation: right to be acknowledged as author n 4. Accuracy: right to correct, alter, reply n 5. Publicity: right to control release of info Exploitative Rights n 1. Commodity: right to sell info n 2. Secrecy: right to protect sensitive info n 3. Utility: right to share useful info n 4. Equity: right to be treated fairly, as others are n 5. Accessibility: right to collect or seek info collected by others Why do we care? n If info can be distributed anywhere, any way, without our knowledge, without even leaving our possession, how can we protect it? n How are we going to be paid? n If we aren't paid, how can we create more info? Copyright and Patents n Copyright is not on the ideas, but expression of ideas (i.e., book) n Patent isn't for the idea but for the thing created by the idea n And, the thing must WORK n You can protect the bottle, not the wine Describing Information n John Perry Barlow (The Dead) says: the central difference between info and physical property: o info can be transferred without leaving possession of original owner Information: 3 defining qualities n 1. Info is an activity o itÕs what happens between my brain and yours n 2. Info is a life form o propogates like living things o ÒwantsÓ to change, never ÒfinishedÓ Information: 3 defining qualities n 3. Information is a relationship o Meaning is different to each of us o Scarcity has value, but so does familiarity o Point of view has value o Information is its own reward Getting Paid in Cyberspace n Where law fails, depend on ethics (shared values) n If people value it, they buy it Two models for payment n Performance model o ticket sales to a continuous performance rather than buying "bundles" of info n Services model o a "retainer" or patron-client relationship o billable hours for interaction Whether YOU will be paid ...will still depend on the quality of your "performance," the validity of your expertise, your relevance, and your access to your users.