Center for the Study of the Public Domain
In September of 2002, Duke created the first university center devoted to the study of the public domain, the realm of material-ideas, images, sounds, discoveries, facts, texts-that is unprotected by intellectual property rights and free for all to use or build upon. Our economy, culture and technology depend on a delicate balance between that which is, and is not, protected by intellectual property rights; and both the incentives provided by intellectual property and the freedom provided by the public domain are crucial to this balance. As part of the school's wider IP program, the Center's goals are to promote research and scholarship on the contributions of the public domain to speech, culture, science and innovation, to promote debate about the balance needed in our IP system and to translate academic research into public policy solutions.
Center for the Study of the Public Domain web site
Center for Genome, Ethics, Law, and Policy
In addition to the Center for the Study of the Public Domain, the Center for Genome, Ethics, Law, and Policy, and Innovation Center at Duke enrich the IP Program with Duke's interdisciplinary strengths in related areas.