Copyright cultures

This column aims to look at the different economic and intellectual approaches to copyright as separate cultures whose assumptions and approaches make it difficult for them to share a single copyright law.

The methodology relies heavily on anthropological analysis to distinguish the expectations and language of subgroups and microcultures within the larger national and international copyright communities.

At least three different copyright cultures exist: for authors who require long‐term protection for financial gain from their works; for authors who require short‐term protection for financial gain from their works; and for authors whose value depends on access instead of protection. Important subsets of the author cultures are also copyright consumers whose interests require access as well as protection.

This analysis helps to show why existing copyright laws serve the interests of some groups better than others. It also explains why open access makes sense as an established legal alternative to automatic long‐term copyright enforcement.