Examining the idea of the return, reconstitution and redeployment of the public domain in a post-Seattle, post-Washington consensus world order, this forward-looking book examines the need to rethink the tenants of global free trade.

Examining the powerful idea of the return, reconstitution and redeployment of the public domain in a post-Seattle and post-Washington consensus world order, this innovative book is the most forward-looking and comprehensive examination of the need to rethink the tenants of global free trade. In the past two decades, countries have focused on broadening and guaranteeing market access, and as the pendulum swings back for the market, the issue of investing in the public domain becomes a priority. The authors believe that devising new institutions of governance for a globalizing world requires fundamental change nationally and internationally. They argue that new public spaces, places and services are required to strengthen democracy and create sanctuaries in society where the market mechanism cannot reach. The public domain is an incipient concept that enables states to reduce the intrusiveness of markets and at the same time develop a strong national performance to reduce the inequality and social exclusion in an increasingly volatile global economy. This original volume boasts an impressive list of international contributors who have demonstrated innovation and leadership in their fields. It will strongly appeal to advanced students, academics and policy makers involved in the field of global governance and international political economy.

Explains how to find and use creative works without permission or fees, describing how to recognize whether or not a work is in the public domain.

In this insightful book you will discover the range wars of the new information age, which is today's battles dealing with intellectual property. Intellectual property rights marks the ground rules for information in today's society, including today's policies that are unbalanced and unspupported by any evidence. The public domain is vital to innovation as well as culture in the realm of material that is protected by property rights.

Copyright is meant to do something-several things-to accomplish socially desirable ends. One of those ends is to create a space for a free exchange of ideas that allows us to build upon a universe of expression that came before. How can I tell if something is in the public domain? This is the central question addressed daily by the Copyright Review Management System (CRMS) project. It is a special question and one essential to the social bargain that society has struck with authors and rights holders. It is also a deceptively simple question. There should be a straightforward answer, especially for books. It should be easy to know when something is-or is not-subject to copyright. And yet, in an age of absolute fluidity of media and medium, even plain old books can be highly complex embodiments of copyright. We need to make it easier to ascertain whether a work is in the public domain. If the rights of copyright holders are to be respected and valued as part of the social bargain, the public domain as a matter of copyright law should be ascertainable and enjoyed. Given this complexity, consider the determination of the copyright status of a given creative work as a design problem. How do we move the copyright status of works in the collections of our libraries, museums, and archives from confusion and uncertainty to clarity and opportunity? Working over a span of nearly eight years, the University of Michigan Library received three grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to generously fund CRMS, a cooperative effort by partner research libraries to identify books in the public domain in HathiTrust. The Toolkit is a resource that aims to allow others to understand and replicate the work done by CRMS.

"Tells the story of how the clashes between authors, publishers, and literary "pirates" influenced both American copyright law and literature itself."--Dust jacket flap

Book provides detailed coverage of: copyright requirements; the duration of copyright; copyright forfeiture and abandonment; the "publication" requirement and more.