Copyright's Highway: From the Printing Press to the Cloud, Second Edition

About the Book

In Copyright's Highway, one of the nation's leading authorities on intellectual property law offers an engaging, readable, and intelligent analysis of the effect of copyright on American politics, economy, and culture. From eighteenth-century copyright law, to the "celestial jukebox," to the future of copyright issues in the digital age, Paul Goldstein presents a thorough examination of the challenges facing copyright owners and users.

In this fully updated second edition, the author expands the discussion to cover the latest developments and shifts in copyright law for a new audience of scholars and students. This expanded edition introduces readers to present and future debates regarding copyright law and policy, including a new chapter on the technological shift in emphasis from producer to consumer and the legal shift from exclusive rights to exceptions and limitations to those rights. From Gutenberg to Google Books, Copyright's Highway, Second Edition, offers a concise, essential resource for the internet generation.

Table of Contents:
1. The Metaphysics of Copyright
2. The History of an Idea
3. Fifty Dollars to Collect Ten
4. Private Copies
5. The Two Cultures of Copyright
6. "The Answer to the Machine Is in the Machine"
7. Fraying at Both Ends
8. Competing with Free


About the Author :
A globally recognized expert on intellectual property law, Paul Goldstein the Stella W. and Ira S. Lillick Professor of Law at Stanford Law School. Goldstein is the author of eleven books, including an influential five-volume treatise on U.S. copyright law, a one-volume treatise on international copyright law, and five novels. He has served as chairman of the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment Advisory Panel on Intellectual Property Rights in an Age of Electronics and Information. Havana Requiem, his third novel, won the 2013 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction.

Review :
"A much-awaited new edition of Paul Goldstein's landmark synthesis of the history and policies of US copyright law. Goldstein's comprehensive and deep understanding of the legal, economic, and technological interests at stake thoroughly illuminates this sensitive and accessible study. A new concluding chapter meticulously and critically examines the challenges of 'competing with free' and the landscape-altering consequences of copyright's encounter with internet platforms."—Jane C. Ginsburg, Columbia University "Paul Goldstein can make the complex issues of copyright law accessible and captivating without sacrificing the nuances of law, politics, and custom that underlie them. With this second edition of Copyright's Highway, Goldstein adds timely narratives, such as the Google Book Project, to illustrate the evolving nature of copyright law and its importance to our everyday lives."—Marshall Leaffer, Indiana University Maurer School of Law "Paul Goldstein's eloquent call for a more human-centered discipline of copyright blends perception and prescription to great effect, indicating to the reader how far copyright has yet to go to help creativity flourish—and how it might cover the distance."—Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard University "Copyright's Highway now an updated and expanded second edition, is one of the most brilliant, lucid, and readable explanations of what is increasingly America's national treasure: our intellectual property. Highly recommended."—Scott Turow, The Authors Guild "If you care about the future of innovation, creativity, technology, free speech and privacy and are going to read one book on copyright, give the second version of Copyright's Highway a shot. It captures the human drama of battles past, gives a sense of our present, and provides a glimpse into the future."––Raymond J. Dowd, New York Law Journal