Technical communication, copyright, and the shrinking public domain

This article offers information on copyright in relation to technical communication practice, research, and pedagogy and discusses copyright in relation to several issues: electronic communication technologies, the expansion of copyright, the corporate paradigm. The first of these items is immediately important as technical communication and composition continue to rely on and to integrate computer technologies into classrooms. The last two items ask the reader to assume an activist stance. The point of this article is to illustrate the need for more attention on the part of communication teachers and researchers in regard to copyright and fair use, especially in light of the growing trend toward privatized information. This trend is especially true in regard to communication technologies for the next century.