Exploring the concept of copyright subject matter through the lenses of law, aesthetics, and cognitive science, this book describes the historical evolution of a work into an artefact that qualifies as copyrightable subject matter. Discussing the originality requirement towards an artefactual understating of intangible goods, copyright?s present struggles with modern societies and technologies, and growing inequalities between rights holders and producers, the book adopts an interdisciplinary approach based on studies in law, aesthetics, neuroscience, and cognitive science to present a novel perspective on the non-artefactual and contextual identification of copyright subject matter.

The book examines the challenges raised by aesthetic and neuroaesthetic concepts and cognitive studies, seeking to create a unifying framework of identification strategies for modern copyright law which embrace historical, philosophical, and social perspectives; the book develops a research methodology that offers a new interdisciplinary and holistic approach for understanding the subject of copyright and better addressing the needs of modern society, technology and business models.

Touching on normative understandings of creativity and legal-philosophical, aesthetic, and cognitive considerations with regard to the idea/expression dichotomy in copyright law, the book will be of immense interest to legal scholars, legal philosophers, aestheticians, and neuroaestheticians.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgements vi

Introduction: how do we know what is protected in copyright law? 1

1 The origins of artefactuality 5

2 The origins of non-artefactuality 43

3 Intuitive artefactuality 82

4 In search of a lost object (the concept) 141

Index 199