Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How It Threatens Creativity by Siva Vaidhyanathan ISBN: 0-8147-8807-6 Publisher: New York University Press Pub. Date: May, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Readable, enjoyable discussion of the issues
Comment: Vaidyanathan clearly has some opinions on the topics he discusses. Since I don't have much experience with the history of copyright, I don't know how objective this book is.
That said, it's a terrifically readable book. I took it with me on a plane trip, and hardly even noticed the flight time! Vaidyanathan paints a clear picture of how copyright developed from early efforts of publishers and writers in England, through Samuel Clemens' fascinating manipulations, to the current state of US and international copyright law.
Vaidyanathan is of the view that the original intentions of copyright, to make "ideas" available to the public at low cost once the author has had a decent chance to make money off them, have been subverted over the years. The current restrictive rules, he argues, maximize profit to the author (or more usually, the publisher), and abuse the rights of the general public to access information and ideas.
It's a fascinating book.
Rating: 5
Summary: highly recommended
Comment: I really enjoyed this book, not least because I am an academic and feel quite strongly about the importance of access to information. The public's rights to fair use of material for research, teaching, criticism, etc. are being infringed upon or ignored, and Vaidhyanathan does a fine job of explaining where those rights came from, how they have changed over the past hundred years or so, and the reasons why they are now in danger. Many current ideas about intellectual property do indeed threaten creativity. I enjoyed particularly the section on sampling in rap music, as well as the author's discussion of current efforts by large companies and organizations to exact payment for viewing any and all "content" (including scientific information, news, and other data that should not fall under copyright). Vaidhyanathan's discussion of the history of copyright law before the twentieth century was not as good as the rest of his analysis; I thought that the English precidents in the eighteenth century and earlier could have been explained a little more fully. However, over all, this was an engaging and informative book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Money as a motivation slays creativity.
Comment: I have been reading your book and am alternately exhilarated and despairing. From other research on the web on this issue, I keep seeing over and over that without copyright protection, people wouldn't have incentive to create. What a load of muck. Creative people NEED to create. They also need to not starve to death, of course. But creating things in and of itself is rewarding. If money is what motivates someone, they should become stockbrokers or something that more honestly reflects their values. I think that motivation by money, and creativity are almost mutually exclusive; once money becomes the motive, creativity is dead, or at least mortally wounded. I know the thrill of creating. I do art without any compensation at all, because I need to and want to, and have been a computer programmer for years, marvelling that someone was willing to pay me for something that is so much FUN! Creativity is inherently rewarding.
 |
Title: The Future of Ideas : The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World by Lawrence Lessig ISBN: 0375726446 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 22 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
 |
Title: Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity by Lawrence Lessig ISBN: 1594200068 Publisher: The Penguin Press Pub. Date: 25 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace by Lawrence Lessig ISBN: 0465039138 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: June, 2000 List Price(USD): $16.50 |
 |
Title: Digital Copyright: Protecting Intellectual Property on the Internet by Jessica Litman ISBN: 1573928895 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
 |
Title: Copy Fights: The Future of Intellectual Property in the Information Age by Adam D. Thierer, Wayne Crews, Declan McCullagh ISBN: 1930865244 Publisher: Cato Inst Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
