"User's Rights and the Public Domain" (original) (raw)
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This article relies on the premise that to understand the significance of Open Access Repositories (OARs) it is necessary to know the context of the debate. Therefore, it is necessary to trace the historical development of the concept of copyright as a property right. The continued relevance of the rationales for copyright interests, both philosophical and pragmatic, will be assessed against the contemporary times of digital publishing. It follows then discussion about the rise of Open Access (OA) practice and its impact on conventional publishing methods. The present article argues about the proper equilibrium between self-interest and social good. In other words, there is a need to find a tool in order to balance individuals' interests and common will. Therefore, there is examination of the concept of property that interrelates justice (Plato), private ownership (Aristotle), labour (Locke), growth of personality (Hegel) and a bundle of rights that constitute legal relations (Hohfeld). This examination sets the context for the argument.
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Copyright User Rights and Access to Justice (Introduction)
Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, 2018
What are copyright user rights? And what insights may an access to justice perspective bring to our understanding of their nature, place in current law and policy, and beyond? These were the main themes of the Symposium hosted by the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor on May 18 and 19, 2017. 1 The Symposium gathered faculty, post-doctoral and doctoral students, and members of the broader academic and legal community from around the world. Copyright user rights have gained increased attention in the last decades in copyright law literature worldwide. 2 In Canada, there has been a greater focus on the rights of users of copyright works since the 2004 judgement CCH Canadian Ltd. v Law Society of Upper Canada, [CCH], 3 where the Supreme Court held that exceptions to copyright infringement were not mere loopholes in the Copyright Act, 4 they were "user rights." 5 *
Globalizing User Rights-Talk: On Copyright Limits and Rhetorical Risks
American University of International Law Review, 2017
Around the world, the focus of copyright policy reform debates is shifting from the protection of copyright owners’ rights towards defining their appropriate limits. There is, however, a great deal of confusion about the legal ontology of copyright “limits,” “exceptions,” “exemptions,” “defenses,” and “user rights.” While the choice of terminology may seem to be a matter of mere semantics, how we describe and conceptualize lawful uses within our copyright system has a direct bearing on how we delimit and define the scope of the owner’s control. Taking seriously the role of rhetoric in shaping law and policy, this Paper critically examines the recent embrace of the language of “users’ rights” to frame fair use, fair dealing, and other non-infringing acts. This terminology has been adopted to varying degrees by courts in Canada, Israel, and the United States and is increasingly employed by public interest advocates and policy-makers at the domestic and international level. In this Pap...