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

Baldwin, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691169098 ISBN 13: 9780691169095

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2016

Synopsis

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Review:

"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 of Nimmer 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 of How to Fix Copyright

"Honorable Mention for the 2015 PROSE Award in Law & Legal Studies, Association of American Publishers"

"[F]ascinating and learned."---Louis Menand, New Yorker

"Baldwin quite ably and thoroughly illuminates the history of copyright developments in Europe and the US."---Mark A. Fischer, Los Angeles Review of Books

"Baldwin expertly and economically records the major beats of copyright history in the last 300 years in a surprisingly focused, readable narrative. . . . In discussions ranging from the origins of copyright in 18th-century England, through the rise of 'moral rights' in Europe and the transition of the U.S. from global pirate to a net exporter of cultural works in the 19th century, to present day battles over Google Book Search and thorny legislation, such as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), Baldwin both illuminates the past and neatly sketches the contours of the battles to come."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author:

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

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0691169098
• ISBN 13: 9780691169095
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 552