Knowledge sharing and the idea of public domain

New technologies change the ways in which information and knowledge are used and created. This has economic impacts that have led to extensive discussions on the need to revise and adapt intellectual property rights in the knowledge society. Access to information and knowledge has also political consequences, as societal development and the possibilities to participate in development crucially depend on it. This paper revisits the theoretical justifications for intellectual property rights, discusses their empirical validity in the knowledge society, the challenge of balancing exclusive rights and societal needs, and points out that knowledge creation and innovation may require new ideas about public domain.