Challenges Facing Collaborative Free Software Projects February 26, 2008

I am interested in collaborative forms of creativity enabled or enhanced through computer networks and the ways in which law or other factors facilitate or frustrate creative innovation. A primary example of collaborative creativity that interests me is open source and free software development. Such collaborative software projects have been recognized for their promise, but increasingly face legal difficulties that threaten their long-term viability and success. In this talk I examine several of these problems posed within the realms of patent, copyright, and trademark law. Recognition of and awareness of these problems is the first step towards crafting practical solutions that could enable these collaborative creators to realize the promise they represent.