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Understanding Copyright
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Understanding Copyright
Intellectual Property in the Digital Age



April 2015 | 160 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

Digital technology has forever changed the way media is created, accessed, shared and regulated, raising serious questions about copyright for artists and fans, media companies and internet intermediaries, activists and governments. Taking a rounded view of the debates that have emerged over copyright in the digital age, this book:

  • Looks across a broad range of industries including music, television and film to consider issues of media power and policy.
  • Features engaging examples that have taken centre stage in the copyright debate, including high profile legal cases against Napster and The Pirate Bay, anti-piracy campaigns, the Creative Commons movement, and public protests against the expansion of copyright enforcement.
  • Considers both the dominant voices, such as industry associations, and those who struggle to be heard, including ordinary media users, drawing on important studies into copyright from around the world.

Offering media students and scholars a comprehensive overview of the contemporary issues surrounding intellectual property through the struggle over copyright, Understanding Copyright explores why disagreement is rife and how the policymaking process might accommodate a wider range of views.

 
Chapter 1: Introduction: Understanding Copyright in the Digital Age
 
Chapter 2: A Brief History of Copyright: Where We Are and How We Got Here
 
Chapter 3: Copyright and the Creative Economy: How the Cultural Industries Exert Influence
 
Chapter 4: Technologies and Corporations in the Middle: How Internet Intermediaries are Drawn into the Debate
 
Chapter 5: Creative Workers and Copyright: How Current and Future Creators Benefit from Cultural Labour
 
Chapter 6: Consumers, Criminals, Patrons, Pirates: How Users Connect to Copyright
 
Chapter 7: Copyright Policy: How Policy Represents (or Fails to Represent) Different Groups
 
Chapter 8: The Future of Copyright: How We Can Learn from the Debate

Digital networks allow millions to vote with their mice against copyright law even as digitally global creative industries vote with their millions to uphold their control. In contrast Klein, Moss and Edwards call for a revitalized and deliberative democratic debate over the future of copyright. This clear, balanced and informative account of the current state of copyright in the digital age is itself a vital contribution to that debate.

Dr Matthew David
School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University

The book gives an excellent overview of the fast developing field of research and policy-

Professor Hannu Nieminen
Social Science , University of Helsinki
December 14, 2016

Really useful for Digital Learning Design Learners and trainee teachers. Informative and helps prevent breaking the law!

Miss Kelly Stewart
Higher education, Accrington & Rossendale College
April 15, 2016

Very interesting topics, well covered with fitting and clear examples.
Great to see the book start with a historical contextualisation of copyright law.
It should be a must for anyone, especially students, working on copyright issues on the Internet.

Ms Nune Nikoghosyan
Department of Sociology, University of Geneva
April 18, 2016

The book's topic is relevant to the topic "ethics of social network research / ethics ssues related to social networks". As such, I was looking for chapters that could be used, but the book is not network-oriented enough to be useful in this respect.

Dr Christian E.G. Steglich
Department of Sociology, Groningen University (RuG)
October 12, 2015

In my Creative Industries module in week 11 the topic will be 'Cultural Policy: Copyright, Property and Regulation' and this book will be an essential resource. I will be recommending sections of the book as essential reading.

Dr Francisco Costa
Faculty of Arts & Humanities, University of East Anglia
June 5, 2015

For instructors

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