Copyright's Highway: From Gutenberg to the Celestial Jukebox

by Paul Goldstein

A renowned expert on copyright law offers a readable and informative look at copyright law and its history, answering common questions about these laws and showing how copyright issues shape the international marketplace and our culture.

Genres: Law, Technology, Nonfiction

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Paul Goldstein is a writer, lawyer, and the Lillick Professor of Law at Stanford Law School. His novel "Havana Requiem" received the 2013 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction.

Series:
* Michael Seeley Mystery

Reviews

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually bought this book (the 1994 edition) closer to when it was published, back in the mid-nineties when I was in the middle of grad school in theater, and thought I might find copyright interesting. I abandoned it at the time because, despite the book's claims, it is rough going for someone versed neither in law nor the specifics of copyright. Now, as a 3L law student and having just taken a copyright course, I read the entire book with some interest. I just noticed that he published a revised version in 2003-- I may find a copy and peek at it given that the greatest shortcomings of the book are that he could merely speculate in 1994 about what was about to happen to copyright as a result of the explosion of digital industries and the formation of the World Trade Organization in 1993. He does not predict the "copyright wars" as they came to be construed between the industries who lobbied successfully for the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (2000) and the Copyleft and Creative Commons advocates fighting to preserve fair use and public domain against the expansion in power represented by this recent legislation. If it is not perhaps the best introduction to copyright law for a complete layman, it is nevertheless a pretty good review of it for someone like myself who already knows something about it. The detailed description of the battle over library photocopying frames the struggle over liability for private copying that will be revisited in the Sony case (home videorecording) and the seminal Napster and Grokster cases. Goldstein does an admirable job of showing that most of the development of copyright is about struggles for control between various claimants to economic rights that are ultimately much more mundane than the lofty call to "promote progress" that our Constitution sets as the purpose of Copyright. His perspective is ultimately fairly optimistic that copyright will find a way to deal with the challenges of new technologies. This may seem naive today, but its not a bad perspective to hear before diving into the more recent literature on copyright, most of which is quite partisan.

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and accessible entry-level history of intellectual property law through the early Napster era, written in layman's terms. If you have any interest whatsoever in the subject, it's definitely worth a read. Obviously, its one flaw is that it's old by technology standards and doesn't address anything happening today, but if you need to know about the development of IP law up until that point, it's definitely worth picking up.

[Federico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Goldstein has the best history of copyright law in the USA right here, with all its bizarre twists. It's less laser-focused than the views by others like Jessica Litman or David Lange who are really driving home a point, but I still learnt very interesting aspects like the birth of ASCAP.

[Lis Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lectura necesaria, interesante, pero leo por necesidad, no por gusto.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good thorough explanation of the evolution of copyright law in the US, with a few detours to Europe and speculations about international implications. Some of the cases get a bit detailed, but I think this is a strength rather than a detriment to the work--the in-depth case descriptions exemplify the tangled mess copyright cases can get into and describe the forces at play: protection of authors' rights, money for a country, money for everyone else, reciprocation between countries, progressing science, sharing knowledge, discouraging a monopoly, respecting creativity, and responding to (or not) the effects of new technology. All of these factors pull in very different directions, and Goldstein captures that interplay perfectly. The only thing I did not like was the overly-optimistic ending, a sort of "technology will solve all our problems" when I think the whole book strongly demonstrated the opposite thesis.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A copyright maximalist view, to be sure, but a well-considered one.

[Ramona · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice way to see another point of view, if a little old-fashioned.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stopped 1/2 way through. I thought it was very tedious -- too much description of single cases, not enough big picture stuff