Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-155). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

The author introduces the regulatory and political landscape of the mining concession and the institutional decay it has suffered. He also shows the systems of acreage and the system which our country has received it well: the System of Public Domain. Finally, the author analyzes the mining concession and harvesting rights, raised according to the Constitution and the General Mining Law, explaining the policy changes needed to strengthen it as a fundamental qualifying title for the development of mining activities in the country. / El autor presenta un panorama normativo y político de la concesión minera y el desgaste institucional que ha sufrido. Asimismo, expone los sistemas de dominio minero y el que nuestro país ha acogido con acierto: el Sistema Dominalista. Por último, analiza la concesión minera y el derecho de aprovechamiento, planteado de acuerdo a la Constitución y Ley General de Minería, explicando los cambios normativos necesarios a fin de fortalecerlo como título habilitante fundamental para el desarrollo de las actividades mineras del país.

O estudo do domínio público no direito autoral não se resume a analisar os prazos de proteção conferido às obras intelectuais. De tratamento escasso pela doutrina, o tema é bem mais complexo do que aparenta em um primeiro momento, abrangendo diversas áreas do direito e tendo implicações diretas na vida da sociedade. Uma vez que o direito autoral é composto de dois feixes distintos de direitos o patrimonial e o moral compreender o domínio público é, em primeiro lugar, determinar que efeitos decorrem do ingresso de determinada obra em domínio público quanto a cada um de tais grupos de direitos. Além disso, o impacto do domínio público se faz sentir em outras áreas jurídicas, como direito contratual, direito de propriedade, direito do consumidor, direito de família, direito das sucessões. Sem contar com a relação inevitável a aspectos econômicos e sociais relacionados ao uso de obras em domínio público.Esta tese procura determinar a estrutura jurídica do domínio público no direito autoral brasileiro a partir das leis atualmente em vigor, bem como traçar a função do instituto, a fim de dar ao domínio público a importância devida e estimular o desenvolvimento sócio-cultural do país. / The study of public domain in the copyright law is not limited to the analysis of the terms of copyright protection. Being scarcely studied by the doctrine, the issue is more complex than it appears at first, covering different areas of law and having direct implications in society. Since copyright is composed of two distinct bundles of rights - the economic and the moral - to understand the public domain is, first, to determine what effects result from the entry of certain work in public domain on each of these groups of rights. Moreover, the impact of public domain is felt in other legal areas such as contract law, property law, consumer law, family law, law of succession. Apart from the inevitable relation to economic and social aspects related to the use of public domain works. This thesis seeks to determine the legal structure of the public domain in copyright according to Brazilian laws currently in force, as well as tracing the role of the institute in order to give due importance to the public domain and stimulate the social and cultural development of the country.

Ce travail de recherche traite des rapports entre le droit de la propriété littéraire et artistique et le principe d'équité, qui permet à chacun des acteurs de la propriété littéraire et artistique : auteur, public, exploitant, de se voir attribuer des prérogatives à sa juste mesure, en faisant en sorte de léser le moins possible les autres acteurs. Les rapports à l'équité sont dans un premier temps étudiés dans le cadre de l'exploitation traditionnelle des droits d'auteur : d'une part par l'intermédiaire des sociétés de gestion collective et d'autre part du fait des contrats d'exploitation portant sur des œuvres. Dans ces cas de figure, l'équité sert de référence dans les relations contractuelles entre l'auteur et l'exploitant. Les rapports à l'équité sont également étudiés dans le cadre du phénomène des œuvres évolutives et des licences libres qui les accompagnent. Les rapports à l'équité sont ensuite étudiés dans le cadre des limitations des droits de l'auteur. Certains de ces limitations font l'objet de compensation, telles les licences légales et les exceptions rémunérées. Les exceptions qui ne font pas l'objet d'une rémunération font l'objet d'une rationalisation. Sont évalués à l'aune de l'équité les moyens de rationalisation d'une part et les exceptions rationalisées du fait de ces moyens d'autre part. L'équité est mesurée dans cette hypothèse entre les prérogatives des ayants droit et celles des bénéficiaires des exceptions. / This PhD thesis deals with the link between the French copyright system and the principle of equity. The French copyright system should allow each of its actors: the author, the public and the manager of the work, to receive attribution pertaining to their role without being overly affected by the other actors' prerogatives. First, we shall study effects on the principle of equity within the framework of traditional exploitation, namely when the author confides the exploitation of his work either to a copyright collecting agency or to a publishing company. Influences on equity will be measured in the nature of the contractual relationship between the author and the copyright manager. Impact on equity will also be studied in cases of open artworks and open licences, such as Copyleft and Creative Commons licences. Next, we shall evaluate the influence on equity within the framework of copyright limitations. These limitations can be offset either by payment – such is the case with legal licences or remunerated exceptions – or by a restriction of their use. Unremunerated exceptions undergo rationalization; we shall examine both the means of rationalization and the rationalized exceptions from a point of view of equity. In the various cases of limitation, the impact on equity will be determined according to the relationship between the copyright owner and the beneficiary of the limitation.

Lors de ces dernières décennies, la recherche de nouveaux instruments générant des recettes publiques est apparue comme un phénomène commun dans des Etats dont les conditions politiques, juridiques et économiques diffèrent pourtant sensiblement. De manière générale, les difficultés financières rencontrées par les États ont favorisé le développement de la parafiscalité mais aussi un certain essor de l’utilisation d’instruments d’obtention de recettes publiques liés au principe du bénéfice. Parmi ces instruments se trouvent les redevances, qui procurent un montant non négligeable de recettes publiques aux États à l’heure actuelle.A partir les années 80, les lois mexicaines présentent une définition de la redevance qui intègre dans son sein les redevances pour service rendu et les redevances domaniales, en leur attribuant un caractère fiscal. Après trois décennies, le régime juridique des redevances dans ce pays se caractérise par un manque considérable de lisibilité. Une technique normative déficiente et l’absence d’un effort de systématisation tant dans les lois qui les établissent que dans la jurisprudence rendent difficile de cerner les redevances comme un tout harmonieux et cohérent.Face à cette problématique, notre thèse a pour objectif de contribuer à l’étude de la redevance en droit mexicain. Dans une Première Partie, nous identifions les éléments qui suggèrent une affirmation progressive de la redevance en tant que catégorie de ressources publiques possédant une logique et un fonctionnement propres. Dans une Deuxième Partie, nous analysons les spécificités des deux grandes modalités de redevance. / Over the past decades, in a context of budgetary pressure, governments turned to fees imposed on those that receive a specific benefit. Since the collection of public service fees increased in the last years, they constitute an important source of revenue for governments. This phenomenon is widespread in many countries, regardless of their economic, political, or legal framework.In Mexico, user fees and fees for the special use or exploitation of the public domain, are levied by both federal and local governments. Nevertheless, since the 1980’s these fees are considered as mandatory levies in this country. Currently, federal and local laws need to be amended in order to establish clearly these fees. Indeed, since several fees exist in Mexican law, it is necessary to investigate if user fees and fees for the special use or exploitation of the public domain belong to the same category. Also, it is necessary to distinguish them from taxes. This thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of fees in Mexican law. First, it is analyzed the definition and legal nature of such fees as well as the constitutional principles that are applied. Second, it is provided an overview of the main characteristics of both user fees and fees for the special use or exploitation of the public domain at federal and local level.

O estudo do domínio público no direito autoral não se resume a analisar os prazos de proteção conferido às obras intelectuais. De tratamento escasso pela doutrina, o tema é bem mais complexo do que aparenta em um primeiro momento, abrangendo diversas áreas do direito e tendo implicações diretas na vida da sociedade. Uma vez que o direito autoral é composto de dois feixes distintos de direitos o patrimonial e o moral compreender o domínio público é, em primeiro lugar, determinar que efeitos decorrem do ingresso de determinada obra em domínio público quanto a cada um de tais grupos de direitos. Além disso, o impacto do domínio público se faz sentir em outras áreas jurídicas, como direito contratual, direito de propriedade, direito do consumidor, direito de família, direito das sucessões. Sem contar com a relação inevitável a aspectos econômicos e sociais relacionados ao uso de obras em domínio público.Esta tese procura determinar a estrutura jurídica do domínio público no direito autoral brasileiro a partir das leis atualmente em vigor, bem como traçar a função do instituto, a fim de dar ao domínio público a importância devida e estimular o desenvolvimento sócio-cultural do país. / The study of public domain in the copyright law is not limited to the analysis of the terms of copyright protection. Being scarcely studied by the doctrine, the issue is more complex than it appears at first, covering different areas of law and having direct implications in society. Since copyright is composed of two distinct bundles of rights - the economic and the moral - to understand the public domain is, first, to determine what effects result from the entry of certain work in public domain on each of these groups of rights. Moreover, the impact of public domain is felt in other legal areas such as contract law, property law, consumer law, family law, law of succession. Apart from the inevitable relation to economic and social aspects related to the use of public domain works. This thesis seeks to determine the legal structure of the public domain in copyright according to Brazilian laws currently in force, as well as tracing the role of the institute in order to give due importance to the public domain and stimulate the social and cultural development of the country.

Based on the premise that only in being accessible can the film reach its potential for history making, the contribution of the film archive to a particular film historical narrative is fragmented: the films that are extant are not necessarily available and the ones that are available are not necessarily publicly accessible. The contention of the thesis is that ‘doing’ film history in the context of the film archive should always be seen in light of an ever increasingly narrowing fragmentation of accessible material that takes place in the film archive. What is new about the contribution of this thesis is not that the film archive can be seen simultaneously as a result of a particular historical narrative as well as contributing to one, but that this debate is put in the context of copyright as a determining factor of why the accessible part of the film archive is only a partial picture. To this end, the thesis proposes a reorganisation of existing categories of analysis in the form of a cross-section of the film archive based on copyright ownership plotted against the material’s ‘availability’. By such practices as using a risk-managed approach to copyright clearance for archival digitisation projects, the film archive can be seen to act as a mediator between copyright and film historiography. On the one hand, the film archive is subjected to copyright law, against the constraints of which it can be seen to resist. On the other hand, the archive makes productive use of copyright in its involvement in the interplay between the ownership of the physical objects and the ability to control the subsequent use and dissemination of those objects. Some of these resistant and productive practices, such as found footage filmmaking as a historiographic intervention and providing access to public domain material, are analysed in the context of some of the digital access practices of EYE Film Institute Netherlands between 2002-2005, in which the film archive can be seen to actively shape access to its film archival holdings as well as a particular potential for film history writing.

This thesis deals with the way in which copyright law is changing in the digital environment and the mechanisms which are facilitating this change. It deals with these issues by analysing the mechanisms of this change, specifically Digital Rights Management (DRM)Systems and anti-circumvention legislation, and the impact which this change is having on the rights of copyright users. The purpose of copyright is to provide an incentive to authors to continue creating while simultaneously providing a public good in allowing the public to use those creations in certain ways. Copyright achieves this purpose by granting both the author and user certain rights. The author is given a limited monopoly over their work in exchange for allowing this work to enter the public sphere and ensuring that users of that work can utilise that work in certain limited ways. The success of copyright thus rests on maintaining the balance between the rights of these parties. The rise of digital technology has created a situation in which copyright content can be easily copied by any party with a Personal Computer and disseminated around the globe instantly via the Internet. In response to these dangers, copyright owners are making use of DRM systems to protect content. DRM systems include various measures of control within its scope. Theses systems allow for copyright owners to control both access and use of content by copyright users. DRM Systems are not foolproof measures of protection however. Technologically sophisticated users are able to circumvent these protection measures. Thus, in order to protect DRM Systems from circumvention, anti-circumvention legislation has been proposed through international treaties and adopted in many countries. The combined effect of these protection measures are open to abuse by copyright owners and serve to curtail the limited rights of copyright users. The end result of this is that the balance which copyright law was created to maintain is disrupted and copyright law no longer fulfils its purpose. This thesis undertakes an analysis of these issues with reference to how these issues affect copyright users in developing countries. This is done with particular reference to possible approaches to this issue in South Africa as South Africa is a signatory to these anti-circumvention treaties.

Comme la propriété privée, la propriété publique a été confondue avec les biens qui n’en sont que les objets. En droit privé, comme en droit public, il est possible, pourtant, de considérer que la propriété n’est pas un bien. Droit subjectif, la propriété est la puissance que le sujet exerce sur les biens. Formellement, elle est le droit de jouir et de disposer des choses conformément au droit objectif. Matériellement, elle variera en fonction du statut de droit objectif qui habilite le sujet de la propriété, le propriétaire. Les personnes publiques, sujets de l’action publique, sont propriétaires sur le fondement d’une compétence que leur assigne immédiatement l’obligation d’agir dans l’intérêt public. La compétence attribue aux personnes publiques un droit de propriété public, affecté au service du seul intérêt public. Envisager les personnes publiques propriétaires au lieu de la propriété des personnes publiques, aura permis de contribuer à la théorie des ordres juridiques partiels comme représentation de la distinction du droit public et du droit privé. Cela conduit à proposer une définition juridique de l’action publique : l’ensemble d’activités mises en œuvre à partir de l’exercice, par les personnes publiques, de leurs droits subjectifs publics, de puissance et de propriété. / As it is the case for private property, the public property was long time confused with the goods that are its objects. However, in public law as in private law, we should consider that property right is not a good. Being an individual right, the property stands for the power exerted by a subject over goods. Formally, it is the right to enjoy and dispose of goods according to law. Materially, it will vary depending on the applicable law which empowers the owner, subject of the property. Public entities, subjects of public action, are owners based on a competency immediately assigned to them by their duty to act in the public interest. This competency grants to public entities a right to public property only affected to the public interest. Focusing on the public persons as owners instead of considering only their property helps contributing to the theory of partial legal orders (“théorie des ordres juridiques partiels”) as a representation of the distinction between public and private law. This finally leads to suggest a legal definition of the public action as a set of activities implemented by the public persons in the exercise of their subjective rights of property.

O objetivo deste trabalho é discutir a questão da cultura livre a partir dos aspectos relativos ao domínio público. O método utilizado se baseia na observação, na análise e na síntese de dados relacionados aos temas propostos, viabilizando uma discussão baseada no estudo bibliográfico exploratório e explicativo das várias questões abordadas na pesquisa que culminam na problemática desta cultura livre e da noção e dos espaços de domínio público.Por sua vez, recorre-se ao estudo e análise de objetos que compõema pesquisa como, por exemplo, o papel da internet, da \"pirataria\", do direito autoral, da evolução dos meios de comunicação e disseminação do conhecimento, das atividades de cooperação e produção independente pelos usuários da grande rede e das políticas culturais no ambiente digital. Desse modo, são descritas e discutidas experiências de bibliotecas (Digital Public Library of America - DPLA), arquivos históricos (Europeana 1914-1918), música (Jamendo), quadrinhos e games.A partir da análise e estudo do conceito e das práticas de cultura livre estabelecidas principalmente sob o domínio público e da pirataria social, chega-se a conclusão que tais questões são fundamentais no incremento de atividades e relações estabelecidas no ambiente cooperativo da internet, que identificam os usuários como produtores e disseminadores de um ciclo cultural vivo entrelaçado pelas vias da grande rede. Com isso, reforça-se o potencial de políticas culturais a partir do ambiente digital que fortaleçam o ideal de cultura livre a partir de questões tais como a revisão das leis de direito autoral, do incentivo ao domínio público e até mesmo sobre novos entendimentos acerca do universo social-cooperativo da pirataria social em rede. / The mains objective of this paper is to discuss the issue of free culture relating it to the public domain questions. The method used is based on observation, analysis and synthesis of data related to the proposed themes, enabling a discussion based on exploratory and explanatory bibliographical study of the various issues addressed in the research culminating in the issue of this free culture and the notion of public domain.In turn, it is through the study and analysis of objects that make up the research as, for example, the role of the internet, \"piracy\", copyright law, the evolution of media and dissemination of knowledge, cooperative and independent cultural activitiesmade by the users and the large network of cultural policies in the digital environment. Some interesting activities in many cultural fields are discussed and described such as in libraries (Digital Public Library of America - DPLA), historic archives (Europeana 1914-1918), music devices and communities (Jamendo), comics and video gamesFrom the analysis and study of the concept and practice of free culture established primarily in the public domain and social piracy, we conclude that such questions are fundamental in development of activities and relationships established in the collaborative environment of the internet, which identify users as producers and disseminators of a living cultural cycle paths intertwined by the large network.Thus, it reinforces the potential of cultural policies from the digital environment that strengthen the ideal of free culture from issues such as the revision of copyright law, encouraging the public domain and even on new understandings of cooperative and social universe of social piracy.