The Copyright Wars: Three Centuries of Trans-Atlantic Battle - Hardcover

Baldwin, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691161828 ISBN 13: 9780691161822

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2014

Synopsis

Today's copyright wars can seem unprecedented. Sparked by the digital revolution that has made copyright―and its violation―a part of everyday life, fights over intellectual property have pitted creators, Hollywood, and governments against consumers, pirates, Silicon Valley, and open-access advocates. But while the digital generation can be forgiven for thinking the dispute between, for example, the publishing industry and Google is completely new, the copyright wars in fact stretch back three centuries―and their history is essential to understanding today’s battles. The Copyright Wars―the first major trans-Atlantic history of copyright from its origins to today―tells this important story.

Peter Baldwin explains why the copyright wars have always been driven by a fundamental tension. Should copyright assure authors and rights holders lasting claims, much like conventional property rights, as in Continental Europe? Or should copyright be primarily concerned with giving consumers cheap and easy access to a shared culture, as in Britain and America? The Copyright Wars describes how the Continental approach triumphed, dramatically increasing the claims of rights holders. The book also tells the widely forgotten story of how America went from being a leading copyright opponent and pirate in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to become the world’s intellectual property policeman in the late twentieth. As it became a net cultural exporter and its content industries saw their advantage in the Continental ideology of strong authors’ rights, the United States reversed position on copyright, weakening its commitment to the ideal of universal enlightenment―a history that reveals that today’s open-access advocates are heirs of a venerable American tradition.

Compelling and wide-ranging, The Copyright Wars is indispensable for understanding a crucial economic, cultural, and political conflict that has reignited in our own time.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"From Kant and Fichte to Wikipedia's protest shutdown and the Swedish Pirate Party, and from international copyright in the Confederacy to moral rights in Fascist Italy, Baldwin offers a riveting historical account of copyright in the Anglo-American and Continental European spheres that becomes an indispensable guide to understanding today's struggles over copyright and international trade treaties."--Yochai Benkler, Harvard Law School

"Why does current U.S. copyright sentiment accord more with the views of Jack Valenti than of Thomas Jefferson? Understanding the fault lines of copyright in the digital age means returning to the debates of the 1830s, if not to even earlier struggles at the Enlightenment's dawn. Nobody could tell the tale with more consummate skill than does Peter Baldwin in this tour de force of cultural history."--David Nimmer, author ofNimmer on Copyright

"I thought I knew what the fuss over copyright was, but this smooth, clear, and well-written book opened my eyes to completely different ways of balancing the benefits of authors vs. audiences. I was astonished to learn that today's die-hard advocates in the digital realm had their exact antecedents hundreds of years ago. And that the divergence between Europe and America reflects not geography, but a profound riddle: who should benefit most, creators or society? Despite its intensely researched and sourced text, this book is a delight to read, with news on almost every page. It is not about the tiny laws of copyright; it's about the meaning of copyright in a big way."--Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick,Wired Magazine

"Baldwin deftly shows that the crucial copyright controversies of today are part of a much older set of controversies and that understanding today's situation is vastly enhanced by understanding its history. This is a must read."--Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia

"Peter Baldwin's The Copyright Wars spans centuries and continents to reveal the background of today's battle over open access to information. Anyone who wants to understand how we arrived at this conflict should read this remarkable book."--Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive

"The creation, distribution, and enjoyment of copyrighted works often result in conflicts based on where you stand, including which side of the Atlantic Ocean you stand on. Peter Baldwin ably demonstrates why this is the case as he carefully charts the centuries-old tensions between Anglo-American and Continental European approaches to copyright."--William Patry, author ofHow to Fix Copyright

About the Author

Peter Baldwin is professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Global Distinguished Professor at New York University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0691161828
• ISBN 13: 9780691161822
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 552