Article
Copyright and a Synergistic Society
Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology
(2017)
Abstract
Copyright and a Synergistic Society, is the second in a series of articles in which I analyze a disturbing moral and psychological trend that has arisen in contemporary copyright scholarship—the tendency to criticize and demoralize the individual author of creative works and glorify collectivist works of art, or those which are perceived to be created by groups of often unidentified and unrelated persons. This “groupthink” mentality, which has become a buzz word in copyright scholarship and is aided by the unrestrained digital proliferation of intellectual products, is a dangerous return to pre-industrialist principles of collectivism which threaten to harm the continued creation of works of individual genius.
In sharp contrast with the majority of legal scholarship on the subject matter, this article explores the continued viability of the individual creator and asserts that the concept of author as contemplated by all iterations of the Copyright Act remains a viable and workable doctrine which should not be eviscerated. In this article, which critically examines copyright theory in a unique context blending history and principles of behavioral psychology and contributes to the often contentious contemporary debate on the nature of creativity, I will show that continuing to foster a regime of rights that are exclusively held and controlled by individual authors will ultimately result in not only more and better works, but also will contribute to a happier—or what behavioral psychologists term a “synergistic”—society.
This Article carefully and critically approaches the authorship debate from a rational perspective that is often overlooked by academicians and other experts who examine the important issue. It is intended to provide a well-researched and comprehensive history on the concept of copyright authorship from a perspective of history and behavioral psychology and offer an alternative—if not, highly controversial—perspective on the important issue of individual creativity.
Keywords
- Romantic authorship,
- behavorial psychology,
- copyright law
Disciplines
Publication Date
Spring July, 2017
Citation Information
Tracy Reilly. "Copyright and a Synergistic Society" Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology (2017) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/tracy_reilly/10/