The Value of the Public Domain

NOVEMBER 27, 2006

Back in July the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) published, as part of the their series on IP and the Public Sphere, my paper entitled The Value of the Public Domain. This essay was’t intended to be original research but rather to provide an overview of the social and commercial benefits to be derived from open (public-domain) approaches to knowledge production.

Since publication, the paper has managed to travel fairly widely (helped I hope by its open licence) including a recent appearance on Lessig’s blog so its appropriate that I’ve now, finally, got around to adding it to the listing on my economics papers page. I’ve also put up an html version though not the plaintext (markdown-formatted) source (email me at comments at rufus dot pollock dot org if you want this version).