Institution Building across Borders

 

The Copyright Dispute

Sigrid Quack and Leonhard Dobusch, Freie Universität Berlin

Ever since Victor Hugo initiated the "Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works" in 1886, the development of international copyright regulations has moved in only one direction in more than 100 years; it has expanded protection in terms of duration, scope, and domain. Only very recently have transnational countermovements by non-governmental actors (e.g. NGOs) emerged that propagate private standards of licensing with more generous rights of use. They criticize the asymmetrically restrictive copyright provisions that neglect the character of intellectual property as collective property and deplore the unused potential of current information and communication technologies to produce and distribute digitized goods.
From the perspective of transnational institution-building, questions arise as to whether and how private forms of regulation can prevail, either in addition to or in place of established regulation, and what types of transnational organization can be involved. These questions will be addressed using the "Creative Commons" project as a case study. "Creative Commons" seeks to offer a multifaceted, internationally standardized array of alternative copyright licenses. A longitudinal study will analyze the interaction of an epistemic community made up primarily of legal scholars, various social movements, and several nonprofit organizations associated with the focal project "Creative Commons," and explore the impact and repercussions of this initiative on the established copyright regime. Project duration: March 2007 to March 2011.

Literature:

Leonard Dobush (2009): Umstrittenes Urheberrecht: Zu viel oder zu wenig Schutz? MPIfG Research Group Institution Building across Borders". Report from current research projects. Cologne: Max-Planck-Institut for the study of societies. PDF

Leonhard Dobusch and Sigrid Quack (2009): Internationale und nichtstaatliche Organisationen im Wettbewerb um Regulierung: Schauplatz Urheberrecht. In: Klaus Dingwerth, Dieter Kerwer und Andreas Nölke (Eds.), Die Organisierte Welt - Internationale Beziehungen und Organisationsforschung, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 235-262.

Leonhard Dobusch and Sigrid Quack (2008): Epistemic Communities and Social Movements: Transnational Dynamics in the Case of Creative Commons. MPIfG Discussion Paper 08/8. PDF

Leonhard Dobusch and Sigrid Quack (2008): Internationale und nicht-staatliche Organisationen im Wettbewerb um Regulierung: Schauplatz Urheberrecht. Paper präsentiert im Rahmen der Tagung „Internationale Beziehungen und Organisationsforschung: Stand und Perspektiven”, 18.-19. September 2008, München. PDF