Litigation threat highlights need for commercial commons

Of the many unwelcome consequences of recession, digital litigation could be among the most pernicious. According to consultancy Deloitte’s 2009 predictions for the technology industry, revealed last week, the downturn could make companies more aggressive in their search for revenue, as well as promoting a new breed of ‘digital ambulance chasers’, lawyers targeting consumers, workers and companies whose rights may have been infringed. ‘In 2009, there may be claims of billions of dollars for copyright abuse for media, software and other forms of content,’ Deloitte predicts. If it’s right, this could significantly hamper organisations’ efforts to keep down costs and remain agile. ‘While companies should be dynamic, they also need to be cautious to avoid ending up on the wrong end of a lawsuit,’ Deloitte warns.

With a minefield of legislation across the globe governing copyright and intellectual property, even diligent organisations could find themselves on the wrong side of the law. The threat makes it even more clear that in our increasingly connected, co-dependent commercial world, businesses must adopt new approaches to copyright and IP if they are to avoid similar problems in future.

The open source model that has been so successful in software, and initiatives such as Creative Commons (which allows copyright-holders to give individuals and businesses the right to reuse and adapt their content), point the way forward. They should be built upon and extended to other forms of IP. A thriving “commercial commons” would give organisations the freedom to reuse and redistribute material, to mutual benefit, without raising significant fears that doing so could place them in legal jeopardy. But businesses also need to remember such a model must be a two-way street. A shared pool of resources can only succeed if people add to it as well as taking from it.