Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars (0)
ISBN:9780195385649 read summary

I have yet to finish this but am enjoying Bill Patry's insights on the topic. However, within the first two chapters it is clear that this book was very lighlty edited, if at all. It's not what I expect from OUP.

Mr. Patry has written a very useful book, albeit a dense one. He recites the litany of cases in which content holders have declared the end of the world should a given technology be permitted, only to find themselves its eventual beneficiaries. Excerpts from the centuries-long history of the debates over copyright debunk the favored position of content owners that their rights are natural and not subject to constraints in favor of the public. He makes the connection between excessive copyright and suppression of innovation in the course of reciting the story of the various technologies attacked by content owners --from the player piano through digital audio tape to Napster. As noted in previous reviews and Mr. Patry's remarks in this space, the book is not prescriptive, although it does provide a key thought that is anathema to our business culture but not necessarily so to the public good: to wit, that companies should give customers what they want and then figure out how to make money doing it.

Potential readers should note that the book is often pedantic and repetitive, and may focus on issues of terminology and philosophy of argument that are likely of more interest to attorneys than other folks. It is nevertheless a very valuable read for anyone concerned about redressing the balance of copyright so as to further the progress of science and the useful arts, rather than criminalizing our children.

Thanks for the comments. The last (second) review noted that I don't offer a prescription out of the current situation. That was deliberate: I wanted this book to be about how we talk about copyright and the influence that plays in our thinking. Had I wrote a prescriptive book, that's all people would have focused on, I feared. But, since in the book I frequently advocate giving consumers what they want rather than what businesses want to give to them, I am heeding my own advice. I am writing a sequel, which is entirely prescriptive, called "How to Fix Copyright." It will be published by Oxford University Press too and will come out I imagine at the beginning of 2011. so please read and judge Moral Panics for what it set out to do.
P.S. I had to rate the book to post these remarks, and was not being presumptuous. I obviously would have preferred to post without rating myself.

Provided in William Patry's book is a brief history of copyright legislation beginning in Britain and moving forward to America and the effects of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. The book argues that copyright has created a monopoly for copyright holders, who are able to determine how their works are used, in what forms, and who will provide them to the public in the digital age, all to the detriment of the public and our culture. Pretty much copyright is responsible for lackluster contemporary major label music, motion picture publishers receiving tax credits from states to film moves on location, DVD players not coming equipped with record buttons, and are part of why America is falling behind the rest of the world on the technological front. While all this continues to happen copyright owners continue to legislate their competition away, strengthening their market monopolies. This book is informative, simplified, and smart about our current situation but in ultimately leaving us there--without a tangible way out--the book falls short of aiding us around this behemoth culture-crippling industry. Just as copyright holders do not walk away from paychecks, Patry--by day a lawyer for Google--won't necessarily be leading the revolution he calls for.

Reviewed by Joe Atkins

I've read other policy explorations by copyright experts -- Copyrights and Copy Wrongs, Copyright's Paradox, Copyright's Highway,The Future of Ideas, and Digital Copyright -- and Patry's book is distinguishable on a few levels. Most importantly, it's better written. Patry's use of language and metaphors (he discusses the distinction between metaphor and simile) is a few steps ahead of his colleagues and makes his thesis more palatable and an enjoyable read. As for Patry's brain, that also may be a few steps ahead of his colleagues. Not only is he able to accurately report on the shipwreck of copyright law (and to prescribe a reasonable approach for towing and repairing it) but he presents this approach in a simple, persuasive style. Finally, Patry's 'big picture' overview -- as painful as it may be for many of us copyright owners -- is the perspective of someone with practical, and not merely academic experience. I'm not sure if the appeal of this book extends beyond copyright nerds, but it should.