The policy report is about copyright protection policy. It is a policy that concerns everyone – from recreational Internet users to Internet service providers (ISPs). The problem of increasing Internet piracy is an important problem on a global and local scale.[1] It is a problem that needs to be countered by effective regulation. But it is also a period of great technological advancement, which means that creative policy is needed to protect ideas and stimulate innovation simultaneously. This will maintain the incentive to produce within New Zealand’s (NZ) creative industries. This issue has been studied with data from economic and social science disciplines. United States (U.S.) copyright policy will be used as a case study. The report covers four issues.
- First, the report contends that stakeholder support is a crucial component of the workability of this policy area.
- Second, the cost of creating infrastructure to cope with the policy will also be essential.
- The third point considers the direction of intellectual property policy and the future of the commons.
- The fourth point concerns the potential economic benefits of copying.[2] direction of NZ intellectual property policy.
At the core of the report is the idea that our understanding of intellectual property should be aligned to our vision of the commons.[3]
[1] Susy Frankel and Geoff McLay. Intellectual Property in New Zealand. Wellington: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2002, p. 10
[2] Lisa N. Takeyama. “Piracy, Asymmetric Information and Product Quality.” In The Economics of Copyright: Developments in Research and Analysis, edited by Wendy J. Gordon and Richard Watt, 2003.
[3] Ghosh, Shubha. “How to Build a Commons: Is Intellectual Property Constrictive, Facilitating, or Irrelevant?” In Understanding Knowledge as a Common: From Theory to Practice, edited by Charlotte Hess and Elinor Ostrom, 2007, 212.