Customer Reviews

Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity

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Lessig has written a very clear and entertaining book about copyright, piracy, and culture, filled with lots of real-world examples to make his points. The book covers major events in the history of copyright in the United States (from its beginnings in English common law and the UK Statute of Anne) in order to show how its meaning has changed, and how those who are making accusations of piracy today were the pirates of yesterday. (Jessica Littman's book, Digital Copyright, is a nice complement to this book, covering the history of copyright in greater depth.) Lessig makes a strong case that the direction of copyright, giving greater control over content to a very small number of owners than has ever existed, is eroding the freedom that we've historically had to preserve and transform the elements of our culture.

Lessig begins by describing how the notion of a real property right for land extending into the sky to "an indefinite extent, upwards" became a real rather than theoretical issue with the invention of the airplane. In 1945, the Causbys, a family of North Carolina farmers, filed a suit against the government for trespassing with its low-flying planes, and the Supreme Court declared the airways to be public space. This example shows how the scope of property rights can change with changes of technology, in this particular case resulting in an uncompensated taking from private property owners, yet leading to enormous innovation and the development of a new industry and form of transportation. He follows this with the example of the development of FM radio, which was intentionally back-burnered by RCA and then hobbled by government regulation at RCA's behest in order to protect its existing investment in AM radio. This example shows how powerful interests can stifle technological change through its ownership of intellectual property (in this case, the patents regarding FM radio).

He then discusses how intellectual property laws have developed in the U.S., pointing out that Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse made his talking picture debut in the movie "Steamboat Willie" (he had earlier appeared in a silent cartoon, "Plane Crazy"), which was a parody of Buster Keaton's "Steamboat Bill." Many of Disney's characters and stories were taken directly from the previous work of others, such as the Brothers Grimm--works in the public domain, freely available for such copying. As new forms of media have been created, they have borrowed from previous forms. Today, however, the creators of content who have borrowed from their predecessors have successfully changed the rules so that their successors cannot borrow from them, both by extending the term and scope of copyright protection and by developing technologies that have greatly reduced the ability of successors to borrow or re-use content. The specific rules are completely inconsistent, based on the political power of the relevant parties at the time the laws were changed. When Edison developed the ability to record sounds, including recording music written by others, copyright law was changed to provide for compulsory licensing for a fee paid to the composer. With radio broadcasting, the fee still goes to the composer, but not to the recording artist. But put that same radio broadcast on the Internet, and now fees must be paid to both the composer and the recording artist.

Where there used to be a sea of unregulated uses of copyrighted material containing a small island of restricted uses (with shores of fair use), there is now a vast continent of restricted uses, a stark cliff of fair use, and a tiny channel of unregulated uses. Lessig shows a table on pp. 170-171 showing commercial and noncommercial uses and the rights to publish and transform for each. In 1790, copyright only governed publication rights for commercial uses, the other three cells of the table being free. At the end of the 19th century, publication and transformation for commercial use was governed by copyright, while noncommercial use was free. The law was changed to govern copies, including much noncommercial use. Today, all four cells of the table are governed by copyright.

Lessig discusses Eric Eldred's attempt to defend the right to transform public domain works into electronic versions by fighting Congress's continuing extensions of the term of copyright in the face of the Constitution's restriction to "limited Times," and how the case was lost at the U.S. Supreme Court to inconsistent reasoning from the conservative justices who failed to even address the commerce clause argument and the precedent they set in Lopez v. Morrison case. This is a wonderfully written, persuasive, entertaining, and dismaying book. It deserves to be widely read and understood, so that ultimately intellectual property law in the U.S. will be reformed.

[...]

Lawrence Lessig's "Free Culture" is nothing short of brilliant. It outlines an incredibly important modern problem that is lost under the noise of more pressing concerns like the war in Iraq or corporate scandals. That problem is the loss of our culture at the hands of intellectual property law. And what that problem lacks in immediacy and prime-time-worthy sex appeal, it makes up in long-term consequences.

Lessig does a formidable job of making the issue come alive for both experts and laymen with his use of anecdotes that clearly illustrate how the ever-growing term and scope of copyright have stifled creativity and shrunken the portion of our culture in the public domain. He shows how the content industry is trying to redefine IP as the equivalent of tangible property, when it is not and has never been, and how that industry has manipulated Congress and the Courts to get closer to its goal.

If you followed the Eldred v. Ashcroft case (like I did; I was lucky to be at oral argument before the Supremes), you'll want to pick up this book for Lessig's inside account. Most of it is a mea culpa for not realizing that the Court didn't want a constitutional argument, but a consequentialist one. I'm not sure this would have made a difference. The Court's right, who, like Lessig, I thought would chime in for a strict reading of what is clear language of "limited times" in the Copyright Clause, must have had some special reason for turning their backs on their originalist rhetoric and I doubt that a political argument would have changed their minds. I still can't understand what that reason might be, and I refuse to believe it's just the dead hand of stare decisis that gave Scalia pause. Lessig is obviously very upset at that Justice; while he does mention having clerked for Judge Posner, Lessig doesn't mention in his bio (neither in the dust jacket nor the back pages of the book) that he clerked for Scalia in 1990-91.

One curious thing about the book is that throughout it Lessig implies that he is a leftist and that the ideas he is advocating are leftist. He patronizingly writes at a couple of points that he would be surprised if a person on the right had read that far. I think he is selling himself-and conservative readers-short. In fact, there is very little in the book incompatible with a conservative or libertarian free-market viewpoint. Private interests using the power of the state to distort the market and quash their competitors, and an originalist Jeffersonian interpretation of the Constitution as the response are very conservative themes indeed.

But it's not all agreement. I, like most free marketeers, will object to parts of Free Culture. Foremost among them are Lessig's concerns about media concentration. The fact is that there are more options today in television and radio than 20 years ago, and the the explosion of Internet sites and blogs, which Lessig spends most of the book lauding, belies the idea that news can be controlled. And it is interesting that Lessig seems to understand this. He says that he has seen concentration only as market efficiency in action, and that only recently has he 'begun to change his mind'. His skepticism is reflected in the fact that he only dedicated a small section (7 pages) to the issue. Another point of contention will be some of the solutions he proposes. While I applaud the idea of shorter terms that must be renewed with payment of a token fee, compulsory licensing and fees paid out by the government out of general revenues is beyond the pail. Won't such mechanisms be ripe for corporate manipulation as well?

Still, small quibbles aside, this book beautifully puts the IP issue in perspective. Everyone is touched by copyright whether they know it or not. This book shows us how the future of our culture is a dark one unless we change course soon.

Discussing law is always a challenge to an author, especially if he/she wishes to make it simple, interesting, and critical. This book is not a book for academics, it is a book for the people who support the tradition of freedom of speech and liberty in our culture. This book is simple, interesting and critical : simple in the sense that one with no legal background can understand it (but at the same time, Professor Lessig's argument is compelling); interesting in the sense that Professor Lessig has great sense of humour in explaining the present situation; critical, needless to say, Professor Lessig is well-known of his role in the litigation regarding the legitimacy of the extension of the copyright term at the Supreme Court.
This book is recommended for all, and is a must for all law students and lawyers.

I heard Lawrence Lessig speak at a conference earlier in 2006 and it was one of the best presentations I'd ever heard. So it will come as no surprise that his book is written in the same to the point, easy to follow and conscise style.

It's historical research sets the foundation for a look at things to come on the Internet as new technology threatens established media, much the same way as Lessig points out it did in previous centuries. The pirates of yesteryear are the corporations of today who threaten the pirates of today. He is humble as he describes his defeat in the US Supreme Court and proactive as he puts some suggestions forward to resolve the current crisis affecting copyright on the Net.

Couldn't put it down and have already purchased Code 2 by the same author.

Lessig's book, like his previous The Future of Ideas, presents a frightening scenario where control of our culture through copyright law is increasingly in the hands of a handful of media conglomerates. Lessig describes the dangers posed by copyright law run rampant, and his description of his handling of oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the case that failed to stop the tide is self-effacing and instructive. The book is accessible for non-lawyers, although it is also adequately endnoted for those with legal training. Anyone who is concerned about the efforts of the MPAA and RIAA to stop "piracy" by abridging the rights of ordinary citizens should definitely read this explanation of the law and the people who increasingly control it.

Crearly and engagingly written, this book not only illustrates how existing media companies fight innovation to keep themselves in control, but also inspires with the possibilities that are available if we find a way to overcome the resistance of the incumbents. The book is eye-opening in terms of history of copyright, intellectual property, US constitution (I didn't know it discussed intellectual property, but it does!), emerging technologies, and the future. The book shows how a commmon perception of copyright being private "property" of a creator is historically incorrect and socially un-desirable. A very worthwhile read.

About halfway through "Free Culture" author Lawrence Lessig offers his most arresting example among many to illustrate his main arguments. That example - or set of examples - comes from Adobe's eBook Reader. When using this particular piece of software to read a downloaded electronic book, you are given a set of "permissions". These include how many times you can copy from the book to the clipboard, how many times you are allowed to print selections from the book, and how many times, if any, you can have your device "Read Aloud" the book. (Other eBook readers have similar characteristics, and Lessig is quick to absolve Adobe of fault.)

This represents one case of how technology allows content providers to introduce new restrictions that have no basis in copyright law or practice as it existed until recently. The Adobe eBook Reader allows such providers to limit even "fair use", or any use, even for books that are not in fact copyrighted. Congress and the courts have however been quick to provide shelter for this increasing control garnered and enforced by content owners. These and other trends lead to Lessig's main point: "the Internet should at least force us to rethink the conditions under which the law of copyright automatically applies, because it is clear that the current reach of copyright was never contemplated, much less chosen, by the legislators who enacted copyright law."

As evidenced by the preceding quote, Lessig's language is seldom extreme, although the instances he cites and the conclusions he draws are truly alarming. He lays out his case in a methodical, always interesting, and frequently entertaining approach. He begins historically, leading us through the record of how we and the courts have defined "property" and "property rights", particularly as they apply to intellectual and cultural property. He demonstrates how, in the U.S., almost every segment of the media industry began with "piracy" of some sort. He cites how, until now, the decisive judgments by the courts in cases dealing with such "piracy" have almost always been in support of, ultimately, the "free" dissemination of culture.

Essential to Lessig's story is the specific history of copyright law. In the U.S., the first such law in 1790 established a copyright term of 14 years, allowed for only one renewal (also for 14 years), and required registration. With the passage of the "Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act" (CTEA) in 1998, we now have an effective term of 95 years, renewal is essentially automatic, and no registration is required. (One of the most compelling sections, although not critical to Lessig's overall narrative, is how he unsuccessfully argued in the Supreme Court against CTEA.)

As "Free Culture" demonstrates, even more effective than recent Congressional action in stifling cultural dissemination have been the efforts of people and groups such as Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The author shows that their favorite weapon is the harassment suit that overwhelms the defendants' fiscal ability to respond. Valenti and the MPAA sued to outlaw VCRs (luckily Sony did have the wherewithal to defend itself). The RIAA sued the Girl Scouts for singing around the campfire. And the two groups combined to spend about $1.5M in lobbying leading up to the passage of the Sony Bono Act.

Lessig closes with some very specific and detailed proposals of how we can fight these increasing incursions on the free spread of culture.

This is a valuable and necessary book. For the most part, it is lucidly argued and engagingly written. The examples, metaphors, and illustrations are plentiful and right on the mark. The flow of the book has, I think, just two lapses that, while perhaps obscure, may interfere with a reader's ability to follow Lessig's logic at critical junctures.

One such lapse is that he does not clearly maintain the distinction between digital, Internet-based technologies for cultural dissemination and those non-digital ones which will live on. His arguments in the first half of the book seem to suggest that he believes that "hard-copy" media will eventually disappear, or at least that all new works will, at some point, be produced only via electronic means. I doubt if this is precisely how he envisions the future; he needs I think to clarify how he sees the distinction playing out.

The second lapse is this. The ability of big media conglomerates to recruit the courts and copyright law to their side is based on a legal determination that, as Lessig puts it,"each use of the Internet produces a copy." He glides over this point without fully explaining how that is so. Since it is so vital to the whole structure of how the law deals with the Internet, and since it will seem counter-intuitive to many, it would have been helpful for the author to have fully explained it and to have done so early in the book.

Media conglomerate attacks on music-sharing, campfire-singing, and movie-sampling may seem entirely justified to many. "Free Culture" sees and presents clearly the kind of constricted cultural future this might well lead to. My favorite passage is when Lessig writes: "lawyers are rarely empirical." Lawrence Lessig is a lawyer, and he has written a very empirical book.

i am a content creator myself (artist and graphic designer) and this presented issues of intellectual property, copyrights and file sharing in a proper perspective. lessig stays fairly moderate throughout, borrowing rally cries from both the left and the right. the reviewer who called him a "communist" has obviously not read the whole book. a person of such limited mental faculty probably had difficulty finishing it.

lessig is a law professor and a constitutional scholar - many of his problems with the perpetual extensions of copyright stem from the fact that very plainly they are unconstitutional.

the author proposes that copyrights be limited reasonably (as provided by the constitution) so that public domain will continue to grow. as it stands anything before the great depression is part of this domain - "free" in the sense that it is part of our general cultural output - owned by no one. through corporate lobbying efforts, it is quite possible that nothing new will be added to the public domain in our lifetime.

the framers of the constitutions SPECIFICALLY limited the duration of copyright so that a creative work, after making money for the creator and living a commercial life, would then become part of the PUBLIC domain - a domain that we all share and all contribute to.

some readers, like the communist-brander, may have been thrown by the title. the author does in no way suggest that creators should not get paid and that everything is for free. "free" culture does NOT mean a "free" lunch, but a "free" society of "free" markets. the freedom to create, the freedom to get paid, and THEN the freedom for the creative work to join to public domain (after the author has died) and be FREE to us all.

lessig is certainly no radical - although i suppose for even raising some of these questions about the crackdown on p2p networks and the nature of intellectual property he will be branded one by the crazies dominating the current debate.

a free society, and indeed a free culture, is about asking tough questions, and that is what lessig is doing with this book.

highly recommended.

This book is very very good, laying out where our rights to media in the internet age are jepoardized by media conglomerates and corrupt government. He starts by giving legal and cultural precendences for his ideas and moves beyond them to clearly prove his points. I found this to be an eye-opening book and is definitely worth its list price. Anyone who wants to intelligently communicate on internet piracy and its cultural and economic impacts needs to read this book to get a firm grasp on the issue. This [book] is very engaging and I have not found it to be boring in any sense - On a quite opposite note, I have spent as much time reading it as I can and am comtemplating purchasing another book by the author.

You might think a book about the history and future of copyright law would be painfully boring. If the book is Free Culture: The Nature & Future of Creativity, by Lawrence Lessig, you'd be wrong. Lessig does a fantastic job of framing copyright with terms and scenarios everyone can understand. On top of that, he's a very engaging writer, the type that can probably make just about any topic interesting.

Lessig explains how large media companies like Disney got their start in an era of very relaxed copyright rules and regulations. In fact, Disney's classic Steamboat Willie was nothing more than a knock-off of Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill, Jr. What would happen if you tried to do the same thing today and based your video on a Disney character? You'd probably get a nice cease and desist letter from the folks at Disney.

One could argue that the IP policies that existed when Disney got off the ground needed some adjustments to fit today's content world. Lessig points out where things have probably gone too far though (e.g., the ridiculously high financial penalties associated with peer-to-peer file sharing). I'm not saying piracy isn't wrong. Not at all. As I've said on my blog, stealing is stealing, but Lessig gives plenty of examples to show how the resulting penalties are more than excessive.

A main thrust of the book has to do with how Congress keeps extending copyright terms and that almost nothing is therefore allowed to move into the public domain. He argued the case at the Supreme Court level but apparently lost because he couldn't show how the situation was hurting anyone. He makes a good point that there are plenty of works in a state of limbo, not really in distribution but beyond the reach of the public domain because they're still covered by copyright term extensions. I tend to agree with the Supreme Court though and find it hard to believe there are loads of derivative works opportunities that aren't being leveraged because of this. That said, Lessig presents an interesting alternative copyright model where owners can opt in to extend the original term.

Lessig is also well-known for his work on the Creative Commons (CCL) initiative. The CCL is a valuable model and a nice alternative for certain uses. Although I had originally thought this book wasn't available via CCL I now understand that was an oversight in the printed book. It is a CCL product and you can obtain the content, and various remixes of the content, at free-culture.org.