"Foreword" [2018] ELECD 859; in Bonadio, Enrico; Lucchi, Nicola (eds), "Non-Conventional Copyright" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) xi

Book Title: Non-Conventional Copyright

Editor(s): Bonadio, Enrico; Lucchi, Nicola

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781786434067

Section Title: Foreword

Number of pages: 4

Extract:

Foreword The past two decades have seen policy makers, academic commentators and industry experts advancing a plethora of law and policy proposals to recalibrate the copyright system. As they observe, the internet, social media and other new communication technologies have raised novel questions, posed unforeseen challenges and generated new stakeholders. In view of this transformation of the copyright landscape, reform is needed to ensure the adequate and appropriate protection of creativity. Such reform will not only enable creators to recoup the time, effort and resources invested in the creative process, but will also allow them to obtain muchdeserved rewards and recognition. One area that scholars have underexplored in intellectual property literature concerns the protection of non-conventional subject matters under copyright law. These subject matters often lie outside the copyright system. Even when they fall within, they tend to lurk at the fringes and receive no or very limited protection. This book examines three distinct groups of non-conventional subject matters. The first group covers those subject matters that have received considerable or growing attention in the copyright arena. Examples are graffiti artworks, tattoo designs, comedic routines, typeface appearances and fragrance formulae. Thus far, copyright disputes involving these subject matters have remained infrequent, and commentators have treated these disputes as rarities, if not oddities. In intellectual property literature, these subject matters have also raised more questions than answers. The chapters in this book are no exception. They provide helpful assessments of whether the courts or the parties have drawn the ...