Big Copyright Versus the People
How Major Content Providers Are Destroying Creativity and How to Stop Them

Extreme copyright produces extreme consumption: ten hours a day, lost to screens. This book takes back our culture and creativity.

Martin Skladany (Author)

9781108415552, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 June 2018

286 pages
23.6 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.6 kg

'Big Copyright versus the People is not just a critique of an out-of-control system that privileges private over public interests - though it certainly is that. It's also an essential treasury of ideas about how to fix that system: some down-to-earth and some absolutely mind-expanding. No one who cares about the future of ideas should miss this erudite, accessible, and stylish volume.' Peter Jaszi, American University Washington College of Law

When the idea of copyright was enshrined in the Constitution it was intended to induce citizens to create. Today, however, copyright has morphed into a system that offers the bulk of its protection to a select number of major corporate content providers (or Big Copyright), which has turned us from a country of creators into one of consumers who spend, on average, ten hours each day on entertainment. In this alarming but illuminating book, Martin Skladany examines our culture of overconsumption and shows not only how it leads to addiction, but also how it is unraveling important threads - of family, friendship, and community - in our society. Big Copyright versus the People should be read by anyone interested in understanding how Big Copyright managed to get such a lethal grip on our culture and what can be done to loosen it.

Introduction
Part I. Theory: 1. Capture
2. The overconsumption problem
3. The value of creativity
Part II. Practical Proposals For Change: 4. Pressuring big copyright
5. Ignoring big copyright
6. Cooperating with big copyright
Conclusion
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Intellectual property law [LNR], E-commerce law [LNCB2], Law [L], Cultural studies [JFC]