The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind

James Boyle

ISBN 10: 0300137400 / ISBN 13: 9780300137408

Published by Yale University Press / A Caravan Book, New Haven and London, 2008

About this Item

315 pp. xvi. No editions, printings or number line cited. Contents in ten chapters after Preface: "Comprised of at Least Jelly?"; 1. "Why Intellectual Property?"; 2. "Thomas Jefferson Writes a Letter"; 3. "The Second Enclosure Movement"; 4. "The Internet Threat"; 5. "The Farmers' Tale: An Allegory"; 6. "I Got a Mashup"; 7. The Enclosure of Science and Technology: Two Case Studies"; 8 "A Creative Commons"; 9. "An Evidence-Free Zone"; 10." An Environmentalism for Information"; Notes and Further Readings, pp. 249-296; Index, pp. 297-315. Medium sky blue with brilliant gilt lettering on spine. Black dustwrapper not price-clipped ($28.50) with color photo-illustration at center front cover, below title lettering in large white letters on top one-fourth front cover, above subtitle in smaller orange and author name lettering in smaller white across bottom front cover, below illustration. (NO previous owner names; NO remainder marks). Flawless. Unread. Gift-giving quality.

Seller Inventory # 002253

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind
• Publisher: Yale University Press / A Caravan Book, New Haven and London
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300137400
• ISBN 13: 9780300137408
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

Why the public domain is vitally important and what we must do to protect it

In this enlightening book James Boyle describes what he calls the range wars of the information age―today’s heated battles over intellectual property. Boyle argues that just as every informed citizen needs to know at least something about the environment or civil rights, every citizen should also understand intellectual property law. Why? Because intellectual property rights mark out the ground rules of the information society, and today’s policies are unbalanced, unsupported by evidence, and often detrimental to cultural access, free speech, digital creativity, and scientific innovation.

Boyle identifies as a major problem the widespread failure to understand the importance of the public domain―the realm of material that everyone is free to use and share without permission or fee. The public domain is as vital to innovation and culture as the realm of material protected by intellectual property rights, he asserts, and he calls for a movement akin to the environmental movement to preserve it. With a clear analysis of issues ranging from Jefferson’s philosophy of innovation to musical sampling, synthetic biology and Internet file sharing, this timely book brings a positive new perspective to important cultural and legal debates. If we continue to enclose the “commons of the mind,” Boyle argues, we will all be the poorer. 

About the Author

James Boyle is William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law. He lives in Chapel Hill, NC.