Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

eliminate copyright fair use, adversely affect competition bymaking it difficult for second generation creators to access rawmaterial and redistribute wealth without society’s receiving thecorresponding increase in creativity and innovation that theintellectual property laws were designed to foster.It is a bit too early to conclude that employing techniques ofperfect control is a viable business strategy. It is not too early,however, to think critically about how to safeguard the balancebetween creators of works and the public in a digital world. Forexample, policymakers might consider whether approaches otherthan traditional fair use can achieve that doctrine’s goals. In thepatent area, they might consider reforming the internal workingsof the Patent & Trademark Office and the patent re-examinationdoctrine to help ensure that patents issue only on inventionsmeeting statutory standards.Throughout the history of intellectual property protection,society has gone through alternating cycles of over- andunderprotection of creative works. We may now be in a time ofoverprotection. Certainly, technological advances and the onlineenvironment have created a new milieu that merits, at aminimum, an analysis of whether the law has struck theappropriate equilibrium. It is time to rethink the wave of recentlegislation and court decisions, to formulate a sensible test forpreemption of contractual terms, and to consider alternativeapproaches that can safeguard the goals of the intellectualproperty system.CONCLUSIONE-commerce has already become a significant force in theworld economy. Policymakers, however, must face a range ofissues that will affect the nature and growth of e-commerce overthe coming years. Among these issues are access, how to promotepolicies that encourage e-commerce appropriately and how toaddress e-commerce in information products. Certainly, as theUnited States and other countries address these problems, theyshould find guidance not only in their own experience, but also bycomparing approaches to select that which most appropriatelyadvances the relevant policy goals.