Mind the Gap! How the Digital Turn Upsets Intellectual Property.

Area of Science:

• Socio-legal studies
• Information science
• Philosophy of technology

Background:

• Intellectual property (IP) is a contentious issue in contemporary philosophy and politics.
• Formal IP rules (copyright, patents) increasingly clash with informal online norms like file sharing and open access.
• The digital environment presents new interaction types challenging traditional IP frameworks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore tensions between formal IP rules and informal online norms.
• To question the adequacy of current IP regimes for online interactions.
• To examine moral justifications for existing IP regulations.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of file-sharing phenomena to highlight the gap between formal rules and informal norms.
• Revisiting the Arrow-Demsetz debate on intellectual property and institutional assessment.
• Epistemological examination of IP institutions.

Main Results:

• File sharing illustrates a growing divergence between IP norms and online practices.
• The current IP regime may not be suitable for the evolving online environment.
• Reinforcing the existing legal framework is less effective than developing new institutional arrangements aligned with norms-in-use.
• Common moral justifications may not fully support the extent of current IP regulations.

Conclusions:

• New institutional arrangements that align with "norms-in-use" are a more promising strategy in the digital age.
• Adapting IP frameworks to emerging online norms is crucial for effective governance.
• The study casts doubt on the sufficiency of current IP laws and their moral underpinnings for the digital era.