Litman, Jessica. “Revising Copyright Law for the Information Age.” Oregon Law Review 19 (1996). 2/15/2010      <http://www.personal.umich.edu/~jdlitman/papers/revising.html>.

Litman argues in this now seminal piece that copyright law is based on a model devised for print media; however, the influx of live, filmed, and taped performances, televised media and digital media are rendering that model untenable.  Litman also recognizes that because of the large amounts of money wrapped up in copyright litigation, a new model for copyright law is unlikely to appear anytime soon.

After asking the question, “[H]ow can we define the compensable units in which we reckon copyright protection to provide incentives for creation and dissemination, while preserving the public’s opportunities to read view, listen to, learn from and build on copyrighted works? Litman provides extensive background information that demonstrates how current copyright law fails to take into account new forms of digital media, digital replication, and duplication of media non-commercial/non-institutional actors.  In so doing, she demonstrates how a copyright exemption of digital materials would allow for growth and promote public interest in copyright after market capitalization.

In the end, Litman hopes to scrap the current IP system in favor of a new set of rules that: 1) preserve some incentives for copyright holders; 2) makes some sense from the viewpoint of individuals; 3) are easy to learn; and 4) seem sensible and just to the people we are asking to obey them.  To achieve this Litman recommends a reconceptualization of copyright that isn’t focused on reproduction but instead is in favor of the right of commercial exploitation.  If this solution is too radical, Litman recommends a non-commercial copying right for the public domain and an integrity right that would be integral to maintaining authenticity in the face of digital replication.