Legal Scholars Probe the Cultural Commons

The May 2010 issue of Cornell Law Review is a treasure trove of essays about the cultural commons. Rarely has the subject received such focused and sustained academic exploration in a major law journal.

The issue just came out so I haven’t had a chance to absorb the articles, but they certainly look inviting. The lead article, Constructing Commons in the Cultural Environment is by Michael J. Madison, Brett M. Frischmann & Katherine J. Strandburg. It is followed by a series of in-depth responses, all of which can be downloaded in pdf form.

The essays include:

Mapping Social Technologies in the Cultural Commons by Thrainn Eggertsson.

Discipline and Nourish: Construction Commons, by Wendy J. Gordon.

Cooperative Institutions in Cultural Commons, by Gregg P. Macey.

Individual Creators in the Cultural Commons, by Robert P. Merges.

The Institutional Analysis and Development Framework and the Commons, by Elinor Ostrom.

Questioning Cultural Commons, by Lawrence B. Solum.

The lead authors’ response to these essays is, The Complexity of the Commons.”