Pengfei Zhang, Cornell University, Ph.D. Candidate

The Human Side of Cyber Takedowns: Theory and Evidence from GitHub

Abstract:  This paper presents a welfare evaluation of the widely adopted content takedown policy that secures copyright in cyberspace. In our analytical framework, unauthorized reproduction occurs in an open-access platform, either as an unproductive investment to steal the content or as a cost-saving method to expand the content. The first kind of reproduction reduces original contributions, whereas the second kind of reproduction invites them. The takedown policy is only socially beneficial in removing the former, but it allows a profit-maximizing copyright owner to block competition for the latter. An event study design using data from GitHub provides evidence that reproduction on this platform is most likely driven by the motive for content expansion, and enforcing the takedown policy is thus inefficient. This welfare loss can be addressed by an appropriate fair-use condition.