LIS-3353 - Freely Available Information
Created Tuesday 19 October 2021
LIS-3353
Freely Available Art, Knowledge and Culture
read all the FSU rules and follow them...
--or maybe not..
Morals, Ethics, Law?
Morals, Ethics, Law?
I start here because, in this realm, there's a very very huge disjoint...
Morals, Ethics, Law?
Ideally: Morals → Ethics → Law.
Really, it's all over the place.
Influencers (there may be more)
“Micro”
needs, etiquette, psychology
“Macro”
Economics, religion, sociology
Code/Technology/Science
Law
Morals, Ethics, Law?
“The Lambchop Machine”
Morals, Ethics, Law?
“The Lambchop Machine”
When X is free, when is it appropriate, if ever, to deny X to someone?
Ownership /Property
- Simple, intuitively; 3 year olds understand it.
MINE!
Ownership /Property
But, consider the law(s) of:
Personal Property
Real Property
And later Intellectual Property
Property!
STILL, fundamentally about exclusion.
Which makes sense for “limited” stuff; but could be likened to a state-sponsored monopoly
Article I, Section 8, Clause 8
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.
“Intellectual” “Property”
Rewarding creators is a means to an end, not the end itself.
Intellectual? Property?
The words.
Intellectual Property
Consider the theory vs the practice;
What people THINK it is:
"I own that idea" or
"That idea is mine because I came up with it"
What people THINK it is:
"I own that idea" or
"That idea is mine because I came up with it"
technically has NO BASIS IN LAW, unless it fits the below
...but HOW MUCH DOES THAT MATTER?
Remember, the law only sets in:
When someone takes time out of their day to SUE YOU;
(Or perhaps to try to inform and/or scare you into some compliance)
For better or worse.
Intellectual Property
- Copyright
- Patent
- Trademark?
- Trade Secret?
The weirdos
(not governed by the IP clause)
Trade Secret
Trademark
Trade Secret
“Privately held info that confers economic advantage or benefit”
Different from the others because ITS A SECRET. (think about it, the others are PUBLICLY KNOWN)
Must “make efforts to protect”
Perpetual
Something like a corporate right of privacy
Trademark
Different from the others in that it's not (theoretically) inherently valuable, but only symbolically
“Expresses Source of Origin”
Potentially perpetual
Can be a very wide range of “things”
(names, phrases, logos, even sounds, smells and colors)
Trademark
Mostly not too controversial, except:
Unfairly scoped and/or wielded (e.g. Sam Bucks Coffee?)
Weirdly Deceptive? (Famous Amos Cookies?)
And wait – what is FSU doing?
Trademark
Broadly, what is the relationship between TRADEMARK and BRANDING?
(weirder than you think)
Definitely Intellectual Property
Copyright
Patent
Patent (theory)
Protects inventions and ideas
Must be:
- Novel (new)
- Non-obvious
- Useful
Theoretically Non-patentable
Naturally occuring things like – plants and algorithms.
BUT
Simply patent the “process”
Reverse Engineering v. Stealing?
Patent don't care.
This is why a lot of people oppose them CATEGORICALLY
Design Patent?
Weird, and you'll see them more soon, because of a shift from
- Deep descriptions
to
- General perception
Copyright
Automatic (Berne Convention)
but, must be registered to sue
“Expression of an idea”
Not infinite, but almost-- (70+life)
Fair Use
- Purpose/Character
- Nature of copied work
- Amount of copied work
- Effect on “value”
Fair Use (is weird)
- (not a right, but a defense)
- Purpose/Character of copying work
- Nature of copied work
- Amount of copied work
Effect on “value”
+ The “5th” measure. Is it icky or weird?
Backlinks: FSU Courses:LIS3353:Raw LIS3353 Slides