From Exclusive Right to Inclusive Right – (Re)Interpreting the Classic Justifications of Copyright Protection through a Lens of Inclusivity

This chapter explores the theoretical layer behind the expansion of copyright protection and the confinement of limitations and exceptions. It offers a critical evaluation of the classic theories used to justify copyright protection, noting how they have been applied to support detrimentally exclusive forms of copyright policy. These theories are taxonomised as either being author-centric in that they primarily support protection based on the author’s interests or socio-centric in the way they justify protection as a means to social ends. The chapter demonstrates that, despite their mainstream interpretation, the four classic author-centric justifications of copyright protection are not inherently contrary to disability rights and can indeed be (re)interpreted in a way that facilitates inclusivity. Interpreting in this manner aligns with the paradigmatic shift away from the perception of disability access rights through a tolerability lens stimulated by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Finally, this chapter explores two nuanced approaches to justifying copyright protection, namely, pluralistic and dualistic approaches, with emphasis on dualism as the preferred approach.