Public/private and copyright reform in cyberspace

A report recently released by the Information Infrastructure Task Force, a Committee formed by the Clinton administration to articulate and implement its vision for the National Information Infrastructure (Nil), recommended several amendments in copyright law. Among other things, the Report recommended expansion of the exclusive right of public distribution to cover not only physical distribution of copyrighted works to the public, but also on-line transmission. Cyberspace, however, transforms the notion of private and public, and blurs their boundaries. Therefore, this paper argues that the notion of "public" may no longer serve to define the scope of copyright monopoly. The continuous use of the public/private dichotomy as a basis for defining the scope of copyright, expands the power of copyright owners to exclude their works and fails to serve the purpose of copyright law. Proposals for copyright reform should take account for the transformation of the public/private distinction in Cyberspace.