Moral panicsI’ve recently finished William Patry’s 2009 book, Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars. The book has been widely praised, and I had been looking forward to reading Patry’s work. Starting with the introduction, Patry explains copyright as a monopoly granted by the legislature to encourage the creation and dissemination of knowledge. Throughout the book, he illustrates how longer monopolies are less likely to lead to innovation, growth in output and the dissemination of knowledge that copyright was created to support. Patry dedicates the core of the book to describing how copyright holders have repeatedly used “moral panics” to argue for extensions of their monopoly. In Patry’s view, their interests of copyright holders are natural but (when wholly granted) antithetical to the public interest. He calls on the federal government to reform copyright and restore it to its Constitutional purpose. While Patry is trained and works as a lawyer, the book is written to make it accessible to anyone who cares about understanding copyright. It is astoundingly well researched, and the footnotes alone (saved for a section in the back) are a lesson in the history of copyright. If you follow our work on piracy, this book provides the context that I wish we had when we started researching the subject. If you own any copyrights, Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars is a must-read. I hope Patry’s argument has already started the ball rolling toward more sensible copyright laws. CommentsHi,
There is a great video made out of Disney characters (fair use) on copyright. Here is source :
regards,
Posted by on 08/13 at 11:05 AM
The detailed footnotes made the book much more compelling for me. Reading “Moral Panics” as a p-book, I found myself at times hopping online to learn more (and pining for an e-book hyperlink). Patry builds his case in a deliberate and compelling manner. If I had one thing I wished for, it was more direction on “how do we change this?”. That’s not really the premise of the book, but Patry is so strong in other aspects that I wanted to hear how DMCA actually came to pass and how we might better emulate the open markets in South Korea and japan, where innovation is occurring at a very fast rate. Posted by Brian O'Leary on 08/13 at 11:13 AM
On the book - sold. bookstore here I come. Not sure there is going to be much ‘fixing done with ACTA and WIPA pushing for even more control. As for DMCA? Two words - MPAA & RIAA. Bought and paid for. Posted by on 08/13 at 11:39 AM
Because our piracy research was focused on books, I had not delved much into the impact of DMCA on device design. Patry’s writing on the subject really opened my eyes. I know it’s old news to lament the degree to which government has evolved to corporatism, but ... seriously. When I put the book down, I wanted to go start a movement. Posted by Brian O'Leary on 08/13 at 11:51 AM
I had a discussion with Jerry Pournelle a couple of years ago on piracy and ebooks. Of course he was worried about it but, if I recall, neither of us had a good solution. He was/is worried the current laws will expand to ebooks. I suspect DMCA or even WIPA (global reach) will morph to fit hardcopy & eboks. No data yet just a gut feeling. Sidebar: When talking about authors connecting with readers; a letter with red markup and notes from Jerry Pournelle is a prized possession. Posted by on 08/13 at 12:28 PM
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