Shemtov, Noam --- "Circumventing the Idea/Expression Dichotomy: The Use of Copyright, Technology and Contract to Deny Access to Ideas" [2007] ELECD 275; in Westkamp, Guido (ed), "Emerging Issues in Intellectual Property" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007)

Book Title: Emerging Issues in Intellectual Property

Editor(s): Westkamp, Guido

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845427757

Section: Chapter 6

Section Title: Circumventing the Idea/Expression Dichotomy: The Use of Copyright, Technology and Contract to Deny Access to Ideas

Author(s): Shemtov, Noam

Number of pages: 21

Extract:

6. Circumventing the idea/expression
dichotomy: The use of copyright,
technology and contract to deny
access to ideas
Noam Shemtov
It is a trite law that copyright protects expressional works rather than the ideas
that underlie such works. Ideas, albeit not in abstract but rather when
harnessed to produce a useful and tangible result, may be protected via patent
law. The rationales for lack of copyright protection for ideas are many and
vary from public domain based arguments to economic efficiency based ones.
The legal principle according to which copyright protects expressional aspects
of a work rather than the ideas that underlie it is often referred to as the
idea­expression dichotomy. Free circulation of ideas is considered vital for the
fostering and dissemination of knowledge and information, which, in turn, is
one of the fundamentals elements of an efficient and optimally productive
society. From an economic efficiency prospective, the idea­expression
dichotomy principle seeks to ensure that creators will not find themselves
obliged to embark on the wasteful task of `reinventing the wheel' each time
they wish to create, but rather be able to build upon an accumulated pool of
logical building blocks. It is important to point out that the concept of freely
circulating ideas is irrespective of their originality or their novelty. The oper-
ation of the doctrine requires no objective assessment of the merits of an idea,
as is the case under patent law.1 Hence, copyright law is not at odds with the
appropriation of ...