CRISIS OF COPYRIGHTS AUTHORITY

Abstract

This paper aims to explain crisis of authority of copyrights that is to prove incoherence between copyrights and a copying culture. In institutional meaning it is a conflict between formal and informal institutions. A formal institution is copyrights and informal one is set of standards and social behavior patterns which could be called a copying culture. Goal of the paper is demonstration of basic factors determining the afore-mentioned incoherence and reasons for its persistence. Performance of the afore-defined goal is associated with verification of two hypotheses. The first states that the crisis of the copyrights appeared because of Internet (which is a technical tool of a contemporary society). The second hypothesis states that enforcement of formal rights observance is hampered since it is not supported by informal institutions. The paper is divided into three main parts. The first part demonstrates an extent of crisis of copyrights and some probable reasons of the crisis are considered. The second part includes case studies related to enforcement of the copyrights which is aimed to explain reasons for persistence of the crisis. The third part focuses on alternative solutions of the problem which is conflict between formal and informal institutions. The paper is based on scientific reports on information goods non-market trade in Poland, Germany, USA and Sweden.