1st Edition
Disrupting Copyright How Disruptive Innovations and Social Norms are Challenging IP Law
New innovations are created every day, but today’s business leaders are focused on finding disruptive innovations which are cheaper and lower performing than upmarket technologies. They create new markets, and challenge the status quo of existing technological thinking creating uncertainty both in the future of the innovation and the outcome of the market upheaval. Disruptive innovation is an influential innovation theory in business, but how does it affect the law?
Several of these technologies have brought new ways for individuals to deal with copyright works while disrupting existing market expectations, while their ability to spawn social norms has presented challenges for legislation. Considering disruptive innovation as a class, this book examines innovations that have impacted copyright in the past, what lessons can be learned from how the law interacted with them, and how the law can successfully deal with them going forward. Creating comprehensive guidance that can be used when faced with disruptive innovations with the aim of more successful legislation, it considers whether copyright law itself has been disrupted through these innovations.
Exploring whether disruptive innovations as a class have unique properties that necessitate action by legislators and whether these properties have the possibility to disrupt the law itself, this book theorises how the law should deal with disruptive innovations in general, going beyond a discussion of the regulation of specific innovations to develop a framework for how law makers should deal with disruptive innovations when faced by one.
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter One: Disruptive Innovation & the Law
Disruptive v Sustaining Innovation: the core of the theory
What is Disruptive Innovation?
Disruptive Innovation in Legal Discussion
Disruptive Innovation: The Noun, the Theory, and the Challenge
Chapter 2: Technology, law, and shifting society
How Technology Changes Society & Societal Priorities
Law, Society & Technology
Why Disruptive Innovation?
Signal to Noise
Chapter 3: Social Norms and Disruptive Innovations
Norms and Signals
Question: Is the disruptive innovation linked to a demographically significant group?
Question: Have conflicting norms arisen?
Question: Is there interest in the technology?
A Confluence of Factors, or how to affect policy
Conclusion
Chapter 4: Legislating for well known norms: Photocopying
Early Development Period Pre-1959
Disruptive Period Development 1959-1970
Mature Technology Period
Xerography's Social Norm influence on the Law
Chapter 5: Legislating during the disruptive period: Radio
Early Development Pre-1922
Disruptive Period 1922-1927
Mature Technology in the 1930s
Differences between the US & UK
Conclusion
Chapter 6: Legislating Early: Personal Computers
Before the Personal Computer
Early Personal Computers 1976-1979
The Disruptive Period 1980-84
Post 1984
Conclusion
Chapter 7: Disruptive Innovation and Regulation
Innovation and Norms: Identifying Social Needs
Disruptive technologies can highlight laws that require reform
Disruptive innovations requires careful, cautious management by law reformers
Regulating disruptive innovations
Chapter 8: The Principles at Work
The Disruptive Internet
Artificial Intelligence: Disruptive Innovation or not?
Applying the Principles
Conclusion
Chapter 9: Final Thoughts
Index
Biography
Dr. Margery R Hilko lectures at the Sutherland School of Law at University College Dublin. With a LLM in Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law, her PhD was explored how disruptive innovations and the social norms they created affected copyright law. She continues to research in the areas of data protection, internet law, and intellectual property.
