Lawrence Lessig: Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy (2008)

The author of Free Culture shows how we harm our childrenand almost anyone who creates, enjoys, or sells any art formwith a restrictive copyright system driven by corporate interests. Lessig reveals the solutions to this impasse offered by a collaborative yet profitable hybrid economy. Lawrence Lessig, the reigning authority on intellectual property in the Internet age, spotlights the newest and possibly the most harmful culture war waged against our kids and others who create and consume art. Americas copyright laws have ceased to perform their original, beneficial role: protecting artists creations while allowing them to build on previous creative works. In fact, our system now criminalizes those very actions. For many, new technologies have made it irresistible to flout these unreasonable and ultimately untenable laws. Some of todays most talented artists are felons, and so are our kids, who see no reason why they shouldnt do what their computers and the Web let them do, from burning a copyrighted CD for a friend to biting riffs from films, videos, songs, etc and making new art from them. Criminalizing our children and others is exactly what our society should not do, and Lessig shows how we can and must end this conflicta war as ill conceived and unwinnable as the war on drugs. By embracing read-write culture, which allows its users to create art as readily as they consume it, we can ensure that creators get the supportartistic, commercial, and ethicalthat they deserve and need. Indeed, we can already see glimmers of a new hybrid economy that combines the profit motives of traditional business with the sharing economy evident in such Web sites as Wikipedia and YouTube. The hybrid economy will become ever more prominent in every creative realmfrom news to musicand Lessig shows how we can and should use it to benefit those who make and consume culture. Remix is an urgent, eloquent plea to end a war that harms our children and other intrepid creative users of new technologies. It also offers an inspiring vision of the post-war world where enormous opportunities await those who view art as a resource to be shared openly rather than a commodity to be hoarded.

First published by Penguin Group USA, 2008
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing, October 2008
Creative Commons BY-NC 3.0 Unported License
ISBN 9781408113479
352 pages

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Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman (2002)

The intersection of ethics, law, business and computer software is the subject of these essays and speeches by MacArthur Foundation Grant winner, Richard M. Stallman. This collection includes historical writings such as The GNU Manifesto, which defined and launched the activist Free Software Movement, along with new writings on hot topics in copyright, patent law, and the controversial issue of “trusted computing.” Stallman takes a critical look at common abuses of copyright law and patents when applied to computer software programs, and how these abuses damage our entire society and remove our existing freedoms. He also discusses the social aspects of software and how free software can create community and social justice.

Given the current turmoil in copyright and patent laws, including the DMCA and proposed CBDTPA, these essays are more relevant than ever. Stallman tackles head-on the essential issues driving the current changes in copyright law. He argues that for creativity to flourish, software must be free of inappropriate and overly-broad legal constraints. Over the past twenty years his arguments and actions have changed the course of software history; this new book is sure to impact the future of software and legal policies in the years to come.

By Richard M. Stallman, Lawrence Lessig, Joshua Gay, Free Software Foundation (Cambridge, Mass.)
Contributor Lawrence Lessig, Joshua Gay
Published by Free Software Foundation, 2002
ISBN 1882114981, 9781882114986
224 pages

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this book provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.

More info (includes PDF downloads of Italian, Catalan, and Spanish translations of the book)

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Digital Copyright and the Consumer Revolution: Hands Off My IPod

This book documents and evaluates the growing consumer revolution against digital copyright law, and makes a unique theoretical contribution to the debate surrounding this issue.With a focus on recent US copyright law, the book charts the consumer rebellion against the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act 1998 (US) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998 (US). The author explores the significance of key judicial rulings and considers legal controversies over new technologies, such as the iPod, TiVo, Sony Playstation II, Google Book Search, and peer-to-peer networks. The book also highlights cultural developments, such as the emergence of digital sampling and mash-ups, the construction of the BBC Creative Archive, and the evolution of the Creative Commons.Digital Copyright and the Consumer Revolution will be of prime interest to academics, law students and lawyers interested in the ramifications of copyright law, as well as policymakers given its focus upon recent legislative developments and reform proposals. The book will also appeal to librarians, information managers, creative artists, consumers, technology developers, and other users of copyright material.

Digital Copyright and the Consumer Revolution: Hands Off My IPod
By Matthew Rimmer
Edition: illustrated
Published by Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007
ISBN 1845429486, 9781845429485
368 pages
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