Bauer, Julia, Nikolaus Franke, and Philipp Tuertscher. "Intellectual property norms in online communities: How user-organized intellectual property regulation supports innovation." Information Systems Research 27.4 (2016): 724-750.

This research investigates the characteristics and efficacy of norms-based intellectual property (IP) systems within anonymous, large-scale online communities, specifically focusing on the Threadless crowdsourcing community. Utilizing netnography, surveys, and a field experiment, the study uncovers a set of well-established norms that regulate IP use, fostering cooperation, cumulative innovation, and legal certainty despite the absence of formal IP law enforcement. The findings lead to the development of propositions to guide further research on norms-based IP systems in both online and offline settings, offering insights for managing crowdsourcing communities effectively.