Digital Commons Network^™

Utilitarian Information Works – Is Originality The Proper Lens?, Dana Beldiman

Dana Beldiman

As the information society advances, vastly increased numbers of utilitarian information works (UIW) are being produced. In general, these works are deemed protected by copyright law, even though the philosophical underpinnings of copyright law clash with the attributes of utilitarian information works. This article examines the cause for the uneasy relationship between utilitarian information works and the concept of “originality.”

Part I discusses the role of information and utilitarian information works as one of the core wealth-producing assets of the knowledge-based economy. This economy is characterized by a rapid pace of innovation, which in turn, requires unrestricted access to information. …