Cultural environmentalism is the movement that seeks to protect the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

. The term was coined by James Boyle, professor at Duke University and contributor to the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

.FT.com / Comment & analysis / FT Columnists - James Boyle: Cultural environmentalism?
/ref> The term stems from Boyle's argument that those who seek to protect the public domain are working towards a similar ends as

environmentalists An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

. Boyle's contention is that whereas the environmentalist movement illuminated the effects that social decisions can have upon ecology, cultural environmentalists seek to illuminate the effects that

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

laws can have upon culture.

References

External links

Cultural Environmentalism at 10

* ttp://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/20/2144214 An IP Environmentalism for Culture and Knowledge? {{Environmentalism Environmentalism Intellectual property law Public domain Science and culture