Copyright & copyleft: knowledge mediation at the interface of law and computer technology

This paper provides a qualitative investigation into the many ways in which exposition
mediates exclusive knowledge about copyright and copyleft to lay-people and (semi-)experts
with different profiles, needs and goals, in different user situations. The analysis moves from
objective exposition in the copyright article of the Oxford Dictionary of Law, primarily intended
for inclusion and knowledge transfer, to institutional and non-institutional webpages at the
front end of Google search listings (pages from GOV.uk, Techopedia, MakeUseOf, the GNU
Project). While highly ranking online pages are generally held to be objective, credible and
authoritative sources of knowledge, non-professional online dictionary articles may depart
from lexicographic practice and provide thin if incorrect content (e.g. the Techopedia
dictionary article). Moreover, the goals of self-promotion and persuasion may frame
expository content, which may communicate the ideology shared by author and principal
organization, and therefore take on a significant argumentative dimension (e.g. the GNU’s
page What is Copyleft). Another point concerns the ability to reach out to the lay-person in
new genres and media: the analysis suggests that popularization strategies and usability
principles interact in diverse ways and to different extents in (multitype) expository texts
written for online communication, on pages which benefit from dilution of information
and recourse to expandable content down or outside the sitemap