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I Introduction
Pages 7-14

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From page 7...
... Sponsors of SOPA and the Senate's version of the legislation, the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) , retreated from their support of the bills while still claiming that more effective copyright enforcement is necessary to protect industries vital to the nation's culture and economy.
From page 8...
... These controversies highlight a sharp division between those who believe the digital revolution is progressively undermining the copyright protection essential to encourage the funding, creation, and distribution of new works and those who believe that proposed enhanced enforcement measures could inhibit creativity, technological innovation, and freedom of expression. Despite these legislative impasses, the past several years have witnessed considerable activity in inter-industry compacts aimed at addressing the challenges of online copyright enforcement.
From page 9...
... Over the last 20 years, a fairly robust research enterprise has developed, aided by efforts to make patent applications, patent litigation, and related data available in a form usable by researchers. This body of work has examined how firms in industries as different as semiconductors and biotechnology acquire and use patents, how government examiners in the patent office review and act on patent application claims, how the patent system affects different classes of patent users ranging from entrepreneurs to universities and large multinational businesses, and how patent validity and infringement disputes are handled by the courts and in post-grant challenge proceedings (Cohen and Merrill, 2003)
From page 10...
... The research we call for is especially critical in light of digital age developments that may, for example, change the incentive calculus for various actors in the copyright system, impact the costs of voluntary copyright transactions, pose new enforcement challenges, and change the optimal balance between copyright protection and exceptions. With respect to changing incentives for creators, distributors, and users, research could help determine • how the expenses involved in creative expression and distribu tion differ across sectors and the role of copyright in generating revenues to offset those expenses;
From page 11...
... , user-generated content, and collaborative and iterative works; • what are successful arrangements for managing transaction costs; • the roles of public and private institutions in facilitating licensing; • the relationship of transaction costs to legal rules such as compul sory licenses; and • changes in transaction costs with new technological and business developments. With respect to the enforcement challenges, research could help determine • how much is spent by governments and private parties on copy right enforcement; • against whom enforcement efforts are targeted and what rem edies are sought and granted; • the results of enforcement efforts in terms of compensation, pre vention, education, and deterrence; • how the effectiveness of enforcement efforts is changing with the expansion of digital networks; • the costs and benefits of current enforcement methods vis-à-vis proposed new enforcement methods; • the relative vulnerability of different business models to infringe ment; and • the costs and benefits of fair use exceptions and Digital Millen nium Copyright Act (DMCA)
From page 12...
... These questions are amenable to a variety of research approaches including: • historical case studies • international comparisons • sectoral comparisons • quantitative data analysis that is either descriptive or causal and • experiments and surveys The list of topics and methods is not exhaustive and is illustrative of a fairly directional research program based on assumptions about the current state of technology and geared to incremental improvements in the market and social benefits of copyright. A research program should also
From page 13...
... Data on registrations with the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress provides useful information on many of the most important copyrighted works, but such records are incomplete and historical records are difficult to access. On the other hand, as with patent litigation, the federal judicial system generates a complete set of data on who sues whom for what copyright violations and, with the important exception of out-of-court settlements, with what outcomes, as well as on criminal prosecutions and resulting penalties.
From page 14...
... It begins with an overview of the logic and evolution of copyright and then surveys the importance of copyright-impacted industries and copyrighted works to the nation's economy and how they have been affected by digital technology. It concludes by briefly reviewing how the existing literature reveals the limits of our knowledge about the efficacy and intended and unintended effects of copyright protection.


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