ABSTRACT
Personhood theory is almost invariably cited as one of the primary theoretical bases for copyright. The conventional wisdom views creative works as the embodiment of their creator’s personality. This unique connection between authors and their works justifies giving authors property interests in the results of their creative efforts. This Chapter argues that the conventional wisdom is too limited. It offers too narrow a vision of the ways that creativity can develop personality by focusing exclusively on the results of the creative process and ignoring the self-actualizing benefits of the creative process itself. German aesthetic theory broadens the understanding of the interactions between creativity and personality. Psychologists, aestheticians, and philosophers have underscored how originating creative works can play an important role in self-actualization …
Yoo, Christopher S, Self-Actualization and the Need to Create as a Limit on Copyright (August 31, 2018) in Comparative Aspects of Limitations and Exceptions in Copyright Law (Shyamkrishna Balganesh, Wee Loon Ng-Loy, and Haochen Sun eds, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2019); U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No 18-42.
First posted 2019-01-20 09:59:54
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