Free Culture – Lawrence Lessig

Lawrence Lessig explains why copyright as it exists today undermines American culture, values, and creativity. He lays out the history of copyright in various fields and the recent (past 30 years) sudden expansion of copyright. He talks about possible solutions that could protect creators’ rights while allowing the explosion of creativity (both commercial and non-commercial) made possible by new technologies. This is not an apologia for college students downloading music, though he does discuss how we got to rampant downloading and he does point out the ludicrous magnitude of punishments for downloading. Worth reading – valuable background for understanding the current copyright fights. I hope we legislate something half so elegant as he suggests.

Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity
Lawrence Lessig
2004
Available from Amazon