CIER-Lezing: The Concept of Balance in Copyright Law

From Distribution to Dialogue: Remarks on the Concept of Balance in Copyright Law. CIER-Lecture by Abraham Drassinower; Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Chair in the Legal, Ethical and Cultural Implications of Technological Innovation, and Director of the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy, University of Toronto.

Date: 13 May 2009, Place: CIER, Molengraaf Instituut; Nobelstraat 2a, Utrecht.

Abstract: Few propositions are more frequently asserted in contemporary copyright discussion than the proposition that copyright is a balance between authors and users - a balance (as some like to say) between the incentive to create and the imperative to disseminate works of authorship.

The paper argues (a) that the concept of balance cannot support the weight it is asked to bear in copyright jurisprudence, and (b) that we should think of copyright less as a "balance" between authors and users than as a "dialogue" between authors and users.  In short, "dialogue" is a metaphor more appropriate than "balance" to structure our interpretation of copyright law and of its purpose. 

On the basis of the idea of dialogue, the paper offers an understanding of certain copyright exceptions rather as user's rights integral to the copyright system; inquires into the lawfulness of copying for personal use; and suggests a concept of the public domain less as a matter of values or weights to be placed on a balance, than as a site of and condition for a network of communicative acts in which both authors and users participate.

The lecture will start at 16.00 hours and ends at 18.00 hours. Subsequently, the Centre for Intellectual Property Law will be happy to invite you for a drink and a talk at the Institute. No entry-fees are charged. Please register with Ellen Alferink, e.alferink@law.uu.nl or by phone: 030 - 253 7723. 2 NOVA-points will be awarded.