Page:The digital public domain.pdf/44

Rh Copyright 2.0 stands for a relaxed and more ﬂexible set of rules that may adapt to the new mechanics of creative production in the digital age. In particular, Copyright 2.0 should serve and pave the way for the “short route” that enhances an unrestrained discourse between authors and the public.

Together with the cultural revolution of networked peer production, the nature of digital information and digitization may also greatly enrich the public domain. Digital information is inexpensive and easy to collect, store, and make available via digital networks. The nature of digital information has propelled the creation of databases of legislative, jurisprudential and governmentally produced material; digital libraries, such as Europeana, Project Gutenberg, Google Books, the Online Books Page, the Hathi Trust Digital Library; digital repositories; scientific libraries of reusable code; databases of scientific and technical information; vast non-profit digital archives, such as the Internet Archive; electronic journals; and MP3 files of music posted by bands wanting to attract a new audience.

Again, digital tools such as high-performance computers and digitized archives are transforming research in science and scholarship in history, literature and the arts. The human genome project is an example of how computational analysis of digitized data has changed scientific research. The emerging field of digital humanities encompasses a wide range of activities, including online preservation, digital mapping, data mining and the use of geographic information systems. Digital humanities can reveal unexplored patterns and trends by analysing unprecedented amounts of data.

The digital environment has the potential to make knowledge a truly global public good. As Charles Nesson reminded us at the third Communia conference, the “challenge is how to use this environment to create knowledge”. Human inventiveness has provided us with a ground-breaking solution to underdevelopment, isolation, and cultural and social divide. The open question