Copyright Research in the Digital Age: Moving from Piracy to the Supply of New Products

Abstract

Twelve years into the Napster era, economists have devoted substantial attention to revenue consequences of unpaid file sharing. Yet, this is only one of a host of questions whose answers are needed to inform evidence-based copyright policy in the digital era. Digitization's effect on travel agents suggests fruitful research questions, which include the impact of digitization on the supply of new works, methods for consumer discovery of new products, and new business models available with digital distribution.