Copyright's Paradox

Copyright's Paradox

Copyright

At its inception, U.S. copyright law was intended to be a limited federal grant for the public good that promoted creative expression while balancing the First Amendment’s freedom of speech. Changes in the copyright law since 1976, compounded by the threats from digital technologies to media conglomerates and publishers, has shifted the emphasis on encouraging a diversity of expression to conflating copyright with property rights. In his book, Copyright's Paradox, Netanel reviews recent cases of copyright infringement against the First Amendment and contrasts increased readership and economic gains by electronic publishers against claims of hardship. He proposes a “recalibration” of copyright to reflect digital technology’s “empowerment” of individual creative appropriation of electronic media and that would balance the citizen’s right to access and expression against the protection of the author/creator’s financial reward. As copyright law currently exists, digital archives are increasingly restricted from ingesting and providing access to its collections.

Netanel, Neil Weinstock

Oxford University Press

2008-03-29

Polk, Victoria

Oxford University Press 2015

eBook

ISBN: 9780195137620

Netanel, Neil Weinstock. Copyright's Paradox. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.