The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind

In his latest text, James Boyle provides a delightful and insightful introduction into the role and scope of intellectual property and the dangers faced in the information society by the continued encroachment of such rights. Articulate, witty and lucid the text pulls the reader effortlessly through a series of examples that illustrate the book’s central theme. That intellectual property maximalists who equate physical and intellectual property and so demand that IP proportionally increase as copying costs decrease, are wrong. Boyle’s mantra is that such state granted monopolies do not necessarily encourage innovation and creativity. ‘More rights will not necessarily produce more innovation.’ For Boyle empirical data, the role of public domain and the commons are all elements that need to be considered before the granting of such monopolies. Through a series of wide ranging examples Boyle, with effortless prose, takes the reader from the founding fathers view of intellectual property rights and monopolies, to the challenges of digital technology, the peer to peer revolution and the legislative responses and technological counter responses. He argues, although the is reluctant to apportion any blame, that intellectual property regimes have become too overarching and have reduced the scope for innovation and development, in this case innovation and development will only continue to be encouraged by some lesser intellectual property regimes and a bigger public domain. Boyd describes this process as the second enclosure movement, the enclosure of the intangible commons of the mind. His style belies the depth of arguments as he effortlessly leads the reader in chapter 8 to the solution, albeit as he himself admits, a second best solution, a creative commons. This is no surprise for Boyle has stood at the epicentre of the Free Culture Movement, for more than a decade ago since his text, Shamans, Software, and Spleens offered a framework for the place of law within the information society. Much has happened since then – of most relevance has been the attempt to create this creative commons through the Creative Commons Initiative. This book can be taken as an introduction, an easy read, but it can be much more, the detailed chapter notes placed at the back give an insight into the depth of research and materials available for the reader wishing to take the matters further. Some chapters however stand on their own, particularly Chapter 6 and the masterly analysis of Ray Charles’s song ‘I Got a Woman’. Others, for example Chapter 7 and the issues around patents, leave significant areas around open patents for the reader to explore elsewhere. The Public Domain will not necessarily provide anything new for those familiar with this area and with the previous work of Boyle but as an introduction to the field of intellectual property, information technology and policy the book has no equal and is a must read. In providing such an enticing and compelling read Boyle gives the impression of proving a