Publishing and the Law: Current Legal Issues

Get the latest information on new developments in copyright law!This timely volume sheds light on the important legal issues that influence the scholarly publishing world. The often-confusing field of publishing law--including copyright, licensing, liability, electronic publishing, and taxation--is going through an unprecedented upheaval as we move into the twenty-first century. Publishing and the Law: Current Legal Issues offers clear, current explanations of the implications of recent laws and technologies and predicts what further changes to expect. Featuring legal, business, and publishing experts, Publishing and the Law discusses the wide-ranging implications of the decline of fair use, the rise of software licensing, the Communications Decency Act, and such landmark legal cases as LaMacchia, Feist, and Matthew Bender. Questions of ownership, fair use, and licensing--historically a problem for authors such as Twain and Dickens--have become exacerbated by the fact that information is no longer static, but rather fluid and transportable. Publishing and the Law addresses the vital questions of interest to librarians, publishers, and scholars, including:

• How will changing technologies affect the legal status of libraries, universities, authors, and publishers?
• What are the latest trends in liability for authors and publishers?
• How does anti-trust law affect library budgets?
• Why is copyright giving way to licensing, and what does that mean for libraries?
• How has the definition of fair use changed?
• Do attempts to censor the Internet abrogate First Amendment rights?
• How does electronic publishing force changes to the rules that worked for traditional printed books and journals?

In an age of advancing technology, Congress and the courts will be called upon with more and more frequency to maintain a balance between the copyright holder's economic interests and society's right to have access to information. Librarians, university administrators, authors, and publishers can benefit from Publishing and the Law: Current Legal Issues to help them understand current trends in intellectual property law.