The report considers first the question of how copyright is justified, as this may have some bearing on whether a country will allow an author to make a voluntary statement leading to the expiration of his/her rights. Copyright can variously be described as a natural right, as a reward for...

The paper looks at the legal nature of so-called open licenses - agreements designed to provide permissions to users and publishers through quot;some rights reservedquot; clauses. The article starts with the assertion that copyright licenses are contracts in Civil Law jurisdictions, and looks at...