The Philosophical Evolution And Legal Definition Of The Connotation Of "Work"

The different eras and subjects make the different understandings of the concept of “works”,which successively formed various kinds of “the view of works”.From the view of the philosophy of law,an opposition could be found in copyright and moden philosophies.To be clear,copyright focuses on “works” and “authors”.But in morden philosophies,things are contrary.The “deconstructionism” wants to wipe off the boundary of “works”,and the “reception theory” pays their attention to “readers” and ignores the effect of the “authors”.In addition,the informationization and the modernization bring us their new forms of “intellectual property”,which also challenge the boundary of copyright works.The solution of these problems can be summarized as a process of re-mining the traditional philosophy theory by rethinking and fusing them together.To build “the view of works” of copyright a solid base is the final purpose of this research.In tracing back to the beginning of the “view of works” in western philosophies,to list few most crucial thoughts of the “view of works” and sort out their continuing path of evolvement.Through some specific thoughts,the paper re-exmines the copyright problems.Specifically,the paper firstly discribes the variation of the subjects on which the “view of works” focuses in art and literature realm in the different eras.And by examining the three main “veiw of works” in different times,“imitation theory”,“expression theory” and “formalism”,as the main thread combined with their unique idea,the paper analyzes the copyright problems.The aim of the examination is to let copyright accept new forms of work much easier,such as the new forms introduced by new theories or new techniques.And through this progress in which the foundamental idea of copyright might be supported,it may also show a new threshold for the concept of “works” in future copyright law.