Let's go back to the beginning where the intellectual property law was first adopted. Copy Right Act, one of the intellectual property legislation, was all about “contributing to the improvement and development of culture and related industry.” (Korean Copy Right Act, Art.1)
However, I am concerned about too much restriction on intellectual property. Too much restriction is not helping the development and improvement of new ideas. Rather it causes “chilling effect.” I do agree that the creator of any intellectual property should be awarded, but this is not primary goal of the protection.
The biggest concern is excessive privatization of "knowledge". The protection of intellectual property has crossed the line. Public use of knowledge has been more and more restricted. For instance, the Bayh-Dole Act enlarged the scope of private knowledge too much, and actually blocked the spread and creation of new ideas. . Again, the intellectual property legislation aimed to enhance motivation of creator in order to spread and create the knowledge.
In this perspective, I think the recent decision of Viacom case was in a right direction. Free use should be more encouraged, and there has to be more duties to the IP owners, not users.
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