Abstract
Information is ‘the oxygen of the modern age’. Despite its importance, or perhaps because of it, conventional wisdom has long been of the view that information wants to, or even needs to, be free. This idea has been extended to encompass not just raw data, but also information products such as databases and software. These products – products whose primary value lies in organizing, providing context, and distributing information content – have often been the subject of debate over whether and to what extent these works should be protected. The tension between information being free and information products being protected is particularly acute in our technological society, where computers and the Internet have made the collection, storage, management, delivery, reproduction, and transfer of enormous quantities of data as simple as clicking a mouse button or typing a keystroke. Even print compilations of information can be easily transformed into digital format using today’s technology.
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2009
ISBN
9781848441835
Recommended Citation
Kristen Osenga, The Componentization of Information, in Intellectual Property Protection of Fact-Based Works: Copyright and Its Alternatives (Robert Brauneis ed, Edward Elgar Press, 2009).
