Permission culture
Encyclopedia
Permission culture is a term often employed by Lawrence Lessig
and other copyright activists to describe a society
in which copyright
restrictions are pervasive and enforced to the extent that any and all uses of copyrighted works need to be explicitly leased. This has both economic and social implications: in such a society, copyright holders could require payment for each use of a work and, perhaps more importantly, permission to make any sort of derivative work
.
Permission culture also refers to the mentality (assumed to be encouraged by copyright law) in which people feel that there is a moral obligation to ask for permission before sharing others' work, or before re-using existing work as part of some new work.
This term is often contrasted with remix culture
.
Lawrence Lessig
Lawrence "Larry" Lessig is an American academic and political activist. He is best known as a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on copyright, trademark, and radio frequency spectrum, particularly in technology applications, and he has called for state-based activism to promote substantive...
and other copyright activists to describe a society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
in which copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
restrictions are pervasive and enforced to the extent that any and all uses of copyrighted works need to be explicitly leased. This has both economic and social implications: in such a society, copyright holders could require payment for each use of a work and, perhaps more importantly, permission to make any sort of derivative work
Derivative work
In United States copyright law, a derivative work is an expressive creation that includes major, copyright-protected elements of an original, previously created first work .-Definition:...
.
Permission culture also refers to the mentality (assumed to be encouraged by copyright law) in which people feel that there is a moral obligation to ask for permission before sharing others' work, or before re-using existing work as part of some new work.
This term is often contrasted with remix culture
Remix culture
Remix culture is a term used to describe a society which allows and encourages derivative works. Remix is defined as combining or editing existing materials to produce a new product. A Remix Culture would be, by default, permissive of efforts to improve upon, change, integrate, or otherwise remix...
.
External links
- Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig
- The Tyranny of Copyright? from the New York Times