The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind

摘要

This is an angry and at the same time often amusing book written by an eminent US professor of Law. It joins a number of similar polemical books by the likes of Neil Netanel (2008) and Larry Lessig in complaining that US copyright law has gone too far in protecting rights of owners and has shifted the law dramatically against bona fide users. Although Boyle is a Professor of Law, he devotes much space to general social and philosophical questions, although there are some chapters which include dense legal arguments. This is especially true of discussions on the DMCA and the chapter on mashups of popular songs.