Talk at the conference "The International Law of Intellectual Property", co-organized by the Weizenbaum-Institute for the Networked Society in Co-Operation with Cambridge University and Humboldt University Berlin, Josef-Kohler-Institute for Intellectual Property, June 24-25, 2019, Berlin

1. Leonhard Dobusch
University of Innsbruck
„The International Law of Intellectual Property“
Weizenbaum-Institute for the Networked Society in Co-Operation with
Cambridge University and Humboldt University Berlin, Josef-Kohler-Institute for Intellectual Property
June 24-25, 2019, Berlin
FROM TRANSNATIONALITY TO TERRITORIALITY AND BACK
The Case of Creative Commons’ Copyright Standards

2. <1>
Context

3. ARENAS OF REGULATING IP
Source: Dobusch, L./Quack, S. (2013): Framing standards, mobilizing users: Copyright versus
fair use in transnational regulation. Review of International Political Economy, 20 (1), 52-88,
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09692290.2012.662909
(Inter-)
National Law
Private
Standards
Standard setting
(e.g., Creative Commons,
Terms & Conditions)
Constructive
mobilisation
(e.g., for the adoption of
certain standards)
Legislative process
(e.g., EU copyright directive)
Lobbying
(e.g., corporate lobbying)
Protest mobilisation
(e.g., Anti-ACTA protests)

4. Legislative Arena
Market Arena
Civil society, GLAM
(e.g., Creative Commons, Free
Software Foundation, Wikimedia)
'Open' Movements
(e.g., Open Data, Open
Source, etc.)
Collecting Societies
(e.g., CISAC, GEMA, SUISA, etc.)
Industry Associations
(e.g., MPAA, RIAA, IFPI, etc.)
Corporations in the
copyright industries
WIPO, WTO, EU, Nation States
TRIPS, WIPO Copyright Treaties, EU Directives
Regulation via technological
standardization: DRM
Regulation via standardization of
licenses: Creative Commons

5. Legislative Arena
Market Arena
Civil society, GLAM
(e.g., Creative Commons, Free
Software Foundation, Wikimedia)
'Open' Movements
(e.g., Open Data, Open
Source, etc.)
Collecting Societies
(e.g., CISAC, GEMA, SUISA, etc.)
Industry Associations
(e.g., MPAA, RIAA, IFPI, etc.)
Corporations in the
copyright industries
WIPO, WTO, EU, Nation States
TRIPS, WIPO Copyright Treaties, EU Directives
Regulation via technological
standardization: DRM
Regulation via standardization of
licenses: Creative Commons

6. <2>
Creative Commons: A Private Public Domain?

7. Copyright Creative Commons
©All rights reserved Some rights reserved

8. Creative Commons
Share and redistribute without the need to clear rights
Attribution ShareAlike NonCommercial No Derivatives

9. Creative Commons
Namensnennung Gleiche Lizenz Nicht-kommerziell Keine Bearbeitung
Use without the
need to clear rights

10. Net-effect of modularity on
license diffusion?
Attractiveness
of choice
Smaller
pool(s) of
works

11. <3>
Transnationality, Territoriality, & Recursivity

12. Origins of Creative Commons:
Transnational by Accident
We first pounded the
promise of tax deductions
as a motivation for donors
of intellectual property.
“ Eric F. Saltzman (May 1, 2001)
CONSTITUTIONAL
COPYRIGHT

13. The overarching structural
question is whether the
Commons should be
centralized around a
particular website or
distributed over the Internet.
“
Documents of the Creative Commons
meeting at May 7, 2001 at Harvard Law
School‘s Berkman Center,
online: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/creativecommons/ [June 24, 2019]
Origins of Creative Commons:
Transnational by Accident

14. Origins of Creative Commons:
Transnational by Accident
Jurisdictions with
ported Creative
Commons license
ten years after the
launch

15. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0 365 730 1095 1460 1825 2190 2555
days
Creative Commons Jurisdiction Project
Internationalization of Creative Commons:
Territoriality by Design (2001-2011)
Jurisdictions with
ported Creative
Commons license
ten years after the
launch
Source: Dobusch, L./Quack, S. (2011): Interorganisationale Netzwerke und digitale Gemeinschaften: Von
Beiträgen zu Beteiligung? Managementforschung, Band 21: Organisation und Umwelt, Vol. 21, 171-213,
Pre-print: http://www.dobusch.net/pub/uni/Dobusch-Quack(2011)WM-vs-CC-PrePrint.pdf

16. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0 365 730 1095 1460 1825 2190 2555
days
Wikipedia Language Project (>100 contributors)
Creative Commons Jurisdiction Project
Wikimedia Chapter
Internationalization of Creative Commons:
Territoriality by Design (2001-2011)
Jurisdictions with
ported Creative
Commons license
ten years after the
launch
Source: Dobusch, L./Quack, S. (2011): Interorganisationale Netzwerke und digitale Gemeinschaften: Von
Beiträgen zu Beteiligung? Managementforschung, Band 21: Organisation und Umwelt, Vol. 21, 171-213,
Pre-print: http://www.dobusch.net/pub/uni/Dobusch-Quack(2011)WM-vs-CC-PrePrint.pdf

17. Internationalization of Creative Commons:
Territoriality by Design (2001-2011)
Affiliate Type: Early and Late Adopter
11 11
8
1
0
4
6
11
2
7
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Tech-Law
School
Law School NGO Law Firm Other
Jurisdictions 1-21 Jursidictions 22-42
- Teaming up with
local law schools in
the beginning
- More diverse,
movement-type
affiliates later on
Source: Dobusch, L./Quack, S. (2008): Epistemic Communities and Social Movements:
Transnational Dynamics in the Case of Creative Commons. Köln: MPIfG Discussion Paper 08/8,
http://www.mpifg.de/pu/mpifg_dp/dp08-8.pdf
- Limits to growth in
global south

18. Transnationalization of Creative Commons
(post 2011)
- Reducing (potential) incompatibilities
- Forces us to take a consistent position …
(e.g. on moral rights, database rights)
- Licenses that better meet users’ expectations
- Will cover all jurisdictions, not ‘just’ 55
- Has the potential to initiate a inter-jurisdictional
discussion on the substance of the licenses
- Frees time for other activities
“
Paul Keller at CC Global Summit 2011
https://governancexborders.com/2011/09/16/cc-global-summit-2011-making-
the-case-for-global-licenses/

19. Transnationalization of Creative Commons
(post 2011)
Versioning
licenses based
upon porting
network and
experience
18 12
32
79
>66
4
1
7
24
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Version 1.0 Version 2.0 Version 2.5 Version 3 Version 4
Review Period Period until next revision
Months
2002 2004 2005 2007 20013Year of launch
Source: Dobusch, L./Lang, M./Quack, S. (2017): Open for Feedback? Formal and Informal
Recursivity in the Transnational Standard-Setting of Creative Commons. Global Policy, 8 (3), 353–
363, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1758-5899.12462

20. 18 12
32
79
>66
4
1
7
24
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Version 1.0 Version 2.0 Version 2.5 Version 3 Version 4
Review Period Period until next revision
Months
2002 2004 2005 2007 20013Year of launch
Transnationalization of Creative Commons
(post 2011)
Versioning
licenses based
upon porting
network and
experience
Transnational licenses
Source: Dobusch, L./Lang, M./Quack, S. (2017): Open for Feedback? Formal and Informal
Recursivity in the Transnational Standard-Setting of Creative Commons. Global Policy, 8 (3), 353–
363, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1758-5899.12462

21. Standard
Formation
Standard
Diffusion
Input
Legitimacy
Output
Legitimacy
Inclusiveness
Adoption rate
CYCLES OF STANDARDIZATION
Source: Botzem, S./Dobusch L. (2012): Standardization Cycles: A
Process Perspective on the Formation and Diffusion of Transnational
Standards, Organization Studies, 33 (5-6), 737-762

22. <4>
Conclusion

23. (1) Transnational standardization depends on forms of territoriality
(2) Temporary territoriality may be a way to more robust transnationality
(3) Adoption-based output legitimacy feeds back into standard formation

24. CONTACT
E-mail:
Leonhard.Dobusch@uibk.ac.at
Twitter:
@leonidobusch
Websites:
bit.ly/LD-UIBK // www.dobusch.net
Research blogs:
governancexborders.com // osconjunction.net