Vol. 13 No. 9 (September 2003)

COPYRIGHT’S HIGHWAY. FROM GUTENBERG TO THE CELESTIAL JUKEBOX (revised edition), by Paul Goldstein. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 2003. 256pp. $17.95 paper, ISBN 0804747482. $45.00 cloth, ISBN 0804747350.

Reviewed by Dr. Irini Stamatoudi, practicing lawyer. Email: stamatoudi@syrigos.gr.

Copyright has undergone important changes through the years, the most important ones being dictated by the challenges set by photocopying technology, motion pictures, television and video. All challenges had to do with the introduction of new forms of delivering and distributing copyright material and, essentially, with new forms of reproducing it in volume, rapidly and in good quality. Traditionally, the interests of two groups of people had to be reconciled—authors and copyright entrepreneurs, such as publishers, the film industry and so on. It was always a matter of politics that determined whether a state preferred one or the other group. Yet, the fate of both groups was linked, since there would be nothing for entrepreneurs to sell if authors did not produce, and authors needed entrepreneurs to market and sell their work. Of course, this train of thought is a rather simplistic one, but it more or less represents the basic philosophy behind the adoption of the first copyright laws in various countries.

Since then, a lot has changed. In fact, digitization and interactivity have, for the first time, presented a serious test to traditional norms of copyright. Paul Goldstein, a Stanford Law professor and a well known international copyright expert, gives shape to these two new characteristics when he discusses in his book the function and future of the “Celestial Jukebox,” a machine that is both digital and interactive. This machine allows people to see films, listen to music or have access to literary works from all over the world at the push of a button from the comfort of their home, any time and any day, with the need of very little equipment. This new technology gives rise to a set of questions. Does the nature of works change? Should we include new technology works within the ambit of copyright? Do we need to reinforce the protection of authors and copyright entrepreneurs, or should we diminish that protection by excluding private copying from the scope of the authors’ restricted rights? What should the role of the “fair use” doctrine be? Moreover, whose rights should we promote—those of authors, or those of other interested groups? It is apparent that copyright is no longer the domain of only the two traditional interest groups (authors and entrepreneurs), but the rights of users, the public, researchers, internet service providers, among others, are also at stake. One could argue that some of these groups were there before but with no real interests or bargaining power.

There are many ways for one to give answers to these questions, as well as many angles that one can take to the above issues. Paul Goldstein, in this revised edition of his book, offers a unique way of answering some of these questions. His book provides historical background, which is necessary if one wants to know and understand where copyright started from and where is heading to. It is at the same time a political history explaining the political and socioeconomic context in which many answers to the various copyright problems were developed in the United States. The United States offers a characteristic example of a country that has undergone many socioeconomic changes in a considerably short period of time. Indeed, the U.S. has become a major importer of other countries’ culture, while persistently avoiding protection of other countries’ copyright works and ratification of the Berne Convention. At the same time, it has become a major exporting state, placing a high priority on the protection of American copyrights abroad, and a warm advocate of the Berne Convention and the WIPO Treaties.

Goldstein manages to strike the right balance between two opposing sides in the history of copyright—the “copyright optimists,” who favor strong all-encompassing copyright protection, and the “copyright pessimists” who think that strong copyright will serve only as an impediment to the free circulation and use of information in society. Although a US scholar, Goldstein manages to strike the right balance between the European (or civil law) approach to copyright and the US approach. This right balance is essentially shown when he questions whether all new subject matter, and especially new technology works, should be protected by copyright irrespective of their utilitarian value and the fact that they may contain things which are in the public domain. A 70-year term of protection for these works may create unwanted monopolies. On the other hand, he proposes including private copying of digital works within authors’ exclusive rights, and he also favors consideration of moral rights.

This book has been written as a novel, where it is evident however, that it has been authored by a lawyer. It neither aims to offer precision in all matters, nor to answer all questions that may come to the reader while s/he is reading the book. The first chapter is quite long, and it tends to run on, and at places seems to miss major points. The book would also have been improved without such detailed discussion of the WILLIAMS & WILKINS CO. v. UNITED STATES and SONY v. UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS cases, where the author gets carried away by tiny details before returning to his more general points in subsequent chapters. It seems to me that the best chapters of the book are the last ones, in which the style is more concise and pointed and the discussion becomes quite interesting. Indeed, the presentation style differs considerably from that in the initial chapters of the book.

Overall, I would say that this book forms an interesting contribution to the history of US copyright law and to the history of copyright law in general. It touches on many important parts of the copyright evolution and seems to be up to date with the most recent developments in the area. It is comprehensive without being exhaustive. It is rather selective in order to sustain the reader’s interest. In other words, it offers the facts and details which are necessary for one, lawyer or not, to read an original history (though subjective at parts, but this is an innate characteristic of history) of copyright. One just needs to bear in mind that this book is not written as a law monograph but as a novel on law which incorporates the knowledge of a successful US scholar.

CASE REFERENCES:

SONY v. UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, 464 U.S. 417 (1984).

WILLIAMS & WILKINS CO. v. UNITED STATES, 420 U.S. 376 (1975).

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Copyright 2003 by the author, Irini Stamatoudi.