How to Fix Copyright [Hardcover]

Bill Patry has published another essential work on copyright law. Drawing on his experience as a congressional staffer working on copyright legislation, his time at the Copyright Office, his many years of legal scholarship (including writing a multi-volume treatise on copyright law and the only specialized treatise on fair use) and many years as a private practice copyright lawyers and litigator, Patry has written two important books geared towards a more general readership. First, with Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars, Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars Patry set out his view of how the law of copyright has been distorted by content owners (and their lobbyists) and how extremist rhetoric on both sides of the copyright "wars" have managed to change the law in ways that weaken its ability to serve copyright's original purposes. That book was all about identifying problems.

Now, with How to Fix Copyright, Patry builds upon his prior work and includes various ideas and starting points for solutions. No, as he points out in his forward, he does not extract an over-simplified bullet-point list of action items at the end of the book. Such an approach would be silly and unproductive, given the complexity of the problems and would give a false impression that Patry has (or possibly could) provide simple, pat or "finished" solutions to all of the problems in copyright law. The suggestions are, rather, discussed throughout the book and at the very least provide a helpful starting point for working on the identified problems.

Patry has a true talent for taking highly technical legal issues and writing about them in an engaging way that people, lawyer and non-lawyer alike, can understand. Anyone who has read his more technical legal treatises or knows his other work is aware that as a legal scholar of (and participant in) the development of copyright law Patry knows more about the history and working of copyright than just about any other living person. Even so, Patry is willing to admit that his views on various issues have changed over time, as he has continuously re-examined and tested them. Consequently, his views do not fall neatly on either side of the increasingly polemic public arguments about copyright law. This is exactly why his work is so valuable (and unique).

Of course, precisely because he does not fit neatly into either side of the polemic, he is often the subject of ad hominem attacks from both sides. You will see some of them among the Amazon reviews, notably from individuals who work for the content owner industries (one is a publisher and the other runs a digital right management company and also serves as an expert witness for music, motion picture and other big content companies). One thing about the review of Patry's books is that you can usually tell which ones you should ignore by the amount of vitriol or condescension in them. If you are interested in thinking about the hard issues related to copyright law and have an open mind, ignore the copyright maximalist industry trolls and read this book. It is bound to change the way you think about copyright law, and as Patry points out, changing your mind is the best way to prove you have one.

The world is always more or less divided between two kind of people. In the case of the current "copyright war", the world is divided between those that want to derogate Copyright and those that want to derogate Internet. Mr Patry belongs to neither group and so he should be listened with attention: he wants to reform the copyright system as it exists. His opinions are backed up with facts and he states clearly what are the principal changes that our system needs.

Mr. Patry argues that copyright laws have been subverted by entrenched interests. To fight this he offers a simple solution: any proposed changes to these laws must be backed by empirical evidence. You want to extend the term of protection because you claim that by doing so more works will be created? Prove it. You want to fight peer to peer networks because they cost jobs? How many? Where is the evidence?

For Mr. Patry a copyright system for the XXI century is one that helps authors get paid and allows the consumers to copy, adapt and remix the work. In that way, both the author and the public will be benefited by the law. In order to achieve this, Mr. Patry proposes shorter term of protection, more formalities in order to claim protection and a complete renovation -and extension- of the legitimate uses of protected works.

The author is not always fair with traditional gatekeepers like publishing houses, studios, etc. It is true that they, more than anyone, are responsible for the archaic copyright laws that we have to live with. But it is also true that they continue to provide a valuable service to creators and that they have being doing this for a long time.

As the copyright system is more or less the same throughout the world this book is a must read in the US or in Argentina. And as Mr. Patry has an agile prose and illustrates his opinion with interesting facts, lawyers and laymen will enjoy and find this book useful.

What did copyright do to Danger Mouse's "Grey Album" -- which mashed up the Beatle's White Album and Jay-Z's Black Album? ([...]) How long does it take to clear rights in old records and books, and what does that do to the ability of the public to enjoy them? Do lengthy copyright terms really promote more creativity?

In HOW TO FIX COPYRIGHT, Bill Patry answers hundreds of questions like this, combining his profound knowledge of copyright law with a limitless appreciation for all forms of culture. The result is a devastating indictment of how Hollywood and the record industry have generated a legal regime that crushes the ability of writers and artists to do what great creators have always done -- draw on existing culture to create new works.

This is a superb book that deserves a wide audience.