The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind James Boyle

Preface United States Patent #6,004,596 Sealed crustless sandwich Filed: December 8, 1997 Abstract: A sealed crustless sandwich for providing a convenient sandwich without an outer crust which can be stored for long periods of time without a central filling from leaking outwardly. The sandwich includes a lower bread portion, an upper bread portion, an upper filling and a lower filling between the lower and upper bread portions, a center filling sealed between the upper and lower fillings, and a crimped edge along an outer perimeter of the bread portions for sealing the fillings therebetween. The upper and lower fillings are preferably comprised of peanut butter and the center filling is comprised of at least jelly. The center filling is prevented from radiating outwardly into and through the bread portions from the surrounding peanut butter.

Questions Should you be able to tell the story of Gone With the Wind from a slave’s point of view even if the author does not want you to? Should the Dallas Cowboys be able to stop the release of Debbie Does Dallas due to the uniform being similar to that of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders? Should the U.S. Commerce Department be able to patent the genes of a Guyami Indian woman who shows an unusual resistance to leukemia? Does reading a Web page count as “copying” it?

Intellectual Property Why do we use the term property? What is the opposite of property? The Tragedy of the Commons “If something is owned in common, one, several or all of the common owners will use the thing to exhaustion to the detriment of all.”

Why Do We Care? Intellectual property is a social policy New media design must coincide with policy design Changes in information technology are motivating changes to intellectual property policy. We are all affected as creators and consumers

Why Intellectual Property? What is the basis of intellectual property? Natural law arguments – We own what we create – But for how long – should Shakespeare's or Plato’s descendents own their writings? Economic (utilitarian) arguments – We want to motivate creators – Who determines motivations?

Types of Intellectual Property Copyrights – Cover original expressions (writings, music, art, source code) Patents – Cover novel inventions and designs Trademarks – Cover trade names, symbols, and slogans

Economic Motivation Copyright motivates authors and artists to risk their time and effort. Patents create a market where inventor’s efforts will go to where there is a perceived reward. Trademarks motivate consistency in products and simplifies consumer selection among alternatives.

Trends in Intellectual Property Law All works copyrighted immediately upon becoming fixed without creator request Copyright terms continually get longer – Now for 70 years after the death of the author (95 years for corporate “works for hire”) What caused these changes?

Effects of Copyright Law Policy should be designed understanding the overall consequences Consider content authored in new media Consider the current holdings of public libraries

We claim: 1.A sealed crustless sandwich, comprising: a first bread layer having a first perimeter surface coplanar to a contact surface; at least one filling of an edible food juxtaposed to said contact surface; a second bread layer juxtaposed to said at least one filling opposite of said first bread layer, wherein said second bread layer includes a second perimeter surface similar to said first perimeter surface; a crimped edge directly between said first perimeter surface and said second perimeter surface for sealing said at least one filling between said first bread layer and said second bread layer; wherein a crust portion of said first bread layer and said second bread layer has been removed. 2.The sealed crustless sandwich of claim 1, wherein said crimped edge includes a plurality of spaced apart depressions for increasing a bond of said crimped edge. 3.The sealed crustless sandwich of claim 2, wherein said crimped edge is a finite distance from said at least one filling for increasing said bond.