The economics of copyright in the digital age

Intellectual property rights are fundamental to how economies organize innovation and steer the diffusion of knowledge. Copyright law, in particular, has developed constantly to keep up with emerging technologies and the interests of creators, consumers, and intermediaries of the different creative industries. We provide a synthesis of the literature on the law and economics of copyright in the digital age, with a particular focus on the available empirical evidence. First, we discuss the legal foundations of the copyright system and developments of length and scope throughout the era of digitization. Second, we review the literature on technological change with its opportunities and challenges for the stakeholders involved. We give special attention to empirical evidence on online copyright enforcement, changes in the supply of works due to digital technology, and the importance of creative re-use and new licensing and business models. We then set out avenues for further research identifying critical gaps in the literature regarding the scope of empirical copyright research, the effects of technology that enables algorithmic licensing, and copyright issues related to software, data and artificial intelligence.ISSN:0950-0804ISSN:1467-641

Stuck in the driver's seat: a conceptualisation for understanding car dependence and its determinants

Car dependence brings along many negative social and environmental externalities that policymakers and stakeholders need to consider. Nonetheless, the concept is not well defined and lacks a clear framework regarding its determinants and mechanisms, which also leads to problems in terms of its operationalisation. Therefore, this paper proposes a conceptualisation and operationalisation of car dependence, which can serve as a basis for further research and policy. We define car dependence as the extent to which an individual is incapable to participate in location-based activities without a car in a satisfactory way. This definition is based on the theoretical background of the capabilities approach and the concept of motility and also linked to the concept of accessibility. Our conceptual model consists of seven components, most of which have been considered separately in previous conceptualisations, namely the land use system, transport system, natural environment, temporal component, social environment, and individual objective/subjective characteristics. These components range from being external to the individual (e.g. the land use system) to internal (e.g. individual features). Considering these components jointly emphasises the importance of looking at car dependence in a holistic, unifying way. This approach contributes to a better understanding of car dependence that goes beyond the explicit analysis of components in previous research. In addition, we provide a systematic approach to operationalising car dependence that contributes to a more comparable approach to measuring car dependence. Researchers have to decide whether they want to examine car dependence via its components or via self-report by individuals, whether they want to study the full set of components or only a subset, and whether they want to consider perceptions or factual information about external components. Therefore, our conceptualisation and operationalisation provide valuable new insights into car dependence regarding new research directions and policy approaches.ISSN:0144-1647ISSN:1464-532

A Supramolecular Wire Able to Self-Assemble on Gold Surface: Controlling the Film Length to Optimize the Device Lifetime and Electron Transfer Efficiency

A chemical "lego nanoset" has been used to realize different structures on gold surfaces. Three building blocks have been designed, in order to chemically link the surface and self-assemble in an ordered manner. Self-assembled films are arranged on a gold surface into 3D suprastructures via consecutive deposition of different mono-layers, taken together by thymine-adenine hydrogen bonds. Three films, composed of one, two, and three helical peptide layers, both containing a zinc-tetraphenylporphyrin dye as an external sheet, are built and characterized by spectro-electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques. All films are found to generate current under illumination, and their photoresponse and stability are studied as a function of the number of peptide layers. The efficiency of the photoconversion process has been correlated to the molecular organization of the porphyrin dyes in the film and to the templating role of the bridge between the porphyrin and the gold surface.ISSN:2196-735

Recoverability of causal effects under presence of missing data: a longitudinal case study

Missing data in multiple variables is a common issue. We investigate the applicability of the framework of graphical models for handling missing data to a complex longitudinal pharmacological study of children with HIV treated with an efavirenz-based regimen as part of the CHAPAS-3 trial. Specifically, we examine whether the causal effects of interest, defined through static interventions on multiple continuous variables, can be recovered (estimated consistently) from the available data only. So far, no general algorithms are available to decide on recoverability, and decisions have to be made on a case-by-case basis. We emphasize the sensitivity of recoverability to even the smallest changes in the graph structure, and present recoverability results for three plausible missingness-directed acyclic graphs (m-DAGs) in the CHAPAS-3 study, informed by clinical knowledge. Furthermore, we propose the concept of a closed missingness mechanism: if missing data are generated based on this mechanism, an available case analysis is admissible for consistent estimation of any statistical or causal estimand, even if data are missing not at random. Both simulations and theoretical considerations demonstrate how, in the assumed MNAR setting of our study, a complete or available case analysis can be superior to multiple imputation, and estimation results vary depending on the assumed missingness DAG. Our analyses demonstrate an innovative application of missingness DAGs to complex longitudinal real-world data, while highlighting the sensitivity of the results with respect to the assumed causal model.ISSN:1465-4644ISSN:1468-435

Inverse Design of Singlet-Fission Materials with Uncertainty-Controlled Genetic Optimization

Singlet fission has shown potential for boosting the efficiency of solar cells, but the scarcity of suitable molecular materials hinders its implementation. We introduce an uncertainty-controlled genetic algorithm (ucGA) based on ensemble machine learning predictions from different molecular representations that concurrently optimizes excited state energies, synthesizability, and exciton size for the discovery of singlet fission materials. The ucGA allows us to efficiently explore the chemical space spanned by the reFORMED fragment database, which consists of 45,000 cores and 5,000 substituents derived from crystallographic structures assembled in the FORMED repository. Running the ucGA in an exploitative setup performs local optimization on variations of known singlet fission scaffolds, such as acenes. In an explorative mode, hitherto unknown candidates displaying excellent excited state properties for singlet fission are generated. We suggest a class of heteroatom-rich mesoionic compounds as acceptors for charge-transfer mediated singlet fission. When included in larger donor-acceptor systems, these units exhibit localization of the triplet state, favorable diradicaloid character and suitable triplet energies for exciton injection into semiconductor solar cells.ISSN:1433-7851ISSN:1521-3773ISSN:0570-083

Measurement of the 1 3S1→2 3S1 interval in positronium using field ionization of Rydberg states

We report a 40 parts per 109 measurement of the positronium 13S1→23S1 interval using pulsed two-photon optical spectroscopy. The transition is detected via field ionization of atoms excited from the 2S to the 20P Rydberg state. Precise Monte Carlo line-shape simulations allow for the accounting of effects such as Doppler and ac Stark shifts, while an optical heterodyne measurement of the excitation laser pulse is used to correct for laser frequency chirp. A value of 1233607210.5±49.6MHz is obtained. This scheme allows for the measurement of the velocity distribution of positronium atoms to correct for the second-order Doppler effect. This is a major source of systematic uncertainty expected for future measurements of this transition with a cw laser; thus, our technique paves the way toward a new generation of a high-precision determination of this interval in positronium.ISSN:1094-1622ISSN:0556-2791ISSN:1050-294

Transformation of the Political System of Belarus after 2020

ISSN:3052-018

Redox proteomics reveal a role for peroxiredoxinylation in stress protection

The redox state of proteins is essential for their function and guarantees cell fitness. Peroxiredoxins protect cells against oxidative stress, maintain redox homeostasis, act as chaperones, and transmit hydrogen peroxide signals to redox regulators. Despite the profound structural and functional knowledge of peroxiredoxins action, information on how the different functions are concerted is still scarce. Using global proteomic analyses, we show here that the yeast peroxiredoxin Tsa1 interacts with many proteins of essential biological processes, including protein turnover and carbohydrate metabolism. Several of these interactions are of a covalent nature, and we show that failure of peroxiredoxinylation of Gnd1 affects its phosphogluconate dehydrogenase activity and impairs recovery upon stress. Thioredoxins directly remove TSA1-formed mixed disulfide intermediates, thus expanding the role of the thioredoxin-peroxiredoxin redox cycle pair to buffer the redox state of proteins.ISSN:2666-3864ISSN:2211-124

Authoritarian urbanism beyond the city: Infrastructure-led extended urbanisation and India's more-than-neoliberal configurations

In the context of the prevailing global rightward and populist shift, there exists a largely unexplored yet profound nexus between authoritarian neoliberalism and infrastructure-led extended urbanisation beyond the city. Drawing on insights from extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted along India's highway corridors, this paper examines the authoritarianism and social fragmentation inherent in the state's attempts to extend infrastructure-led urbanisation into economically bypassed regions. By exploring the intersections between the construction of recent highway corridors through previously bypassed regions inhabited by marginalised religious and caste groups and the outbreak of state-backed violence, this paper analyses authoritarian urbanism emerging amidst social struggles over enclosure and urbanisation of agrarian land. Specifically, the paper delves in depth into the planning of two recent highway corridors - the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and the India-Myanmar-Thailand highway - and the escalation of state-sponsored religious conflicts and polarisation in the regions these corridors traverse. This research demonstrates how national-scale infrastructure projects, such as the Bharatmala highway programme, allow for the framing of a national-popular project that selectively incorporates hegemonic socio-religious groups such as certain Hindu caste groups who have reaped the primary benefits of economic liberalisation while disenfranchising marginalised communities. The paper defines authoritarian urbanism as a more-than-neoliberal configuration emerging from a toxic amalgamation of state power, bellicose militarism, infrastructure-led urbanisation and religious nationalism. It concludes that this emerging authoritarian urbanism obscures the neoliberal crises of jobless growth and fails to address the uneven development and social inequalities resulting from infrastructure-led urbanisation.ISSN:0042-0980ISSN:1360-063