New Book: The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind by James Boyle
The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind, by James Boyle.
Publisher: Yale University Press, 2008
Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN-10: 0300137400
ISBN-13: 978-0300137408
In this enlightening book James Boyle describes what he calls the range wars of the information age—today’s heated battles over intellectual property. Boyle argues that just as every informed citizen needs to know at least something about the environment or civil rights, every citizen should also understand intellectual property law. Why? Because intellectual property rights mark out the ground rules of the information society, and today’s policies are unbalanced, unsupported by evidence, and often detrimental to cultural access, free speech, digital creativity, and scientific innovation.
Boyle identifies as a major problem the widespread failure to understand the importance of the public domain—the realm of material that everyone is free to use and share without permission or fee. The public domain is as vital to innovation and culture as the realm of material protected by intellectual property rights, he asserts, and he calls for a movement akin to the environmental movement to preserve it. With a clear analysis of issues ranging from Jefferson’s philosophy of innovation to musical sampling, synthetic biology and Internet file sharing, this timely book brings a positive new perspective to important cultural and legal debates. If we continue to enclose the “commons of the mind,” Boyle argues, we will all be the poorer.
James Boyle is William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law. He lives in Chapel Hill, NC.
REVIEWS
“Boyle has been the godfather of the Free Culture Movement since his extraordinary book, Shamans, Software, and Spleens set the framework for the field a decade ago. In this beautifully written and subtly argued book, Boyle has succeeded in resetting that framework, and beginning the work in the next stage of this field. The Public Domain is absolutely crucial to understanding where the debate has been, and where it will go. And Boyle’s work continues to be at the center of that debate.”—Lawrence Lessig, C. Wendell and Edith M. Carlsmith Professor of Law, Stanford Law School and author of Free Culture and The Future of Ideas
“In this delightful volume, Professor Boyle gives the reader a masterful tour of the intellectual property wars, the fight over who will control the information age, pointing the way toward the promise—and peril—of the future. A must read for both beginner and expert alike!”—Jimmy Wales, founder, Wikipedia
“Boyle is one of the world’s major thinkers on the centrality of the public domain to the production of knowledge and culture. He offers a comprehensive and biting critique of where our copyright and patent policy has gone, and prescriptions for how we can begin to rebalance our law and practice. It is the first book I would give to anyone who wants to understand the causes, consequences, and solutions in the debates over copyrights, patents, and the public domain of the past decade and a half.”—Yochai Benkler, Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies, Harvard Law School and author of The Wealth of Networks
New Book: Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy by Lawrence Lessig
Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, by Lawrence Lessig
Penguin Press, 2008
Hardcover: 352 pages
ISBN-10: 1594201722
ISBN-13: 978-1594201721
The author of Free Culture shows how we harm our children—and almost anyone who creates, enjoys, or sells any art form—with a restrictive copyright system driven by corporate interests. Lessig reveals the solutions to this impasse offered by a collaborative yet profitable “hybrid economy”.
Lawrence Lessig, the reigning authority on intellectual property in the Internet age, spotlights the newest and possibly the most harmful culture war—a war waged against our kids and others who create and consume art. America’s copyright laws have ceased to perform their original, beneficial role: protecting artists’ creations while allowing them to build on previous creative works. In fact, our system now criminalizes those very actions.
For many, new technologies have made it irresistible to flout these unreasonable and ultimately untenable laws. Some of today’s most talented artists are felons, and so are our kids, who see no reason why they shouldn’t do what their computers and the Web let them do, from burning a copyrighted CD for a friend to “biting” riffs from films, videos, songs, etc and making new art from them.
Criminalizing our children and others is exactly what our society should not do, and Lessig shows how we can and must end this conflict—a war as ill conceived and unwinnable as the war on drugs. By embracing “read-write culture,” which allows its users to create art as readily as they consume it, we can ensure that creators get the support—artistic, commercial, and ethical—that they deserve and need. Indeed, we can already see glimmers of a new hybrid economy that combines the profit motives of traditional business with the “sharing economy” evident in such Web sites as Wikipedia and YouTube. The hybrid economy will become ever more prominent in every creative realm—from news to music—and Lessig shows how we can and should use it to benefit those who make and consume culture.
Remix is an urgent, eloquent plea to end a war that harms our children and other intrepid creative users of new technologies. It also offers an inspiring vision of the post-war world where enormous opportunities await those who view art as a resource to be shared openly rather than a commodity to be hoarded.
About the Author
Lawrence Lessig is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and founder of the School’s Center for Internet and Society. He is the author of Free Culture, The Future of Ideas, and Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, and is a columnist at Wired. He chairs the Creative Commons project and has won numerous awards, including the Free Software Foundation’s Freedom Award. He was named one of Scientific American’s Top 50 Visionaries and has also been listed as one of BusinessWeek’s “eBiz 25,” the magazine’s roundup of the twenty-five most influential people in electronic business, several times.
为学贵在勤奋与一丝不苟——瞿同祖先生访谈录
2007年3月下旬一个雨后初晴的上午，我第一次见到了现已98岁高龄的瞿老。我就瞿老的成长经历，工作与研究的历程，学术成就、治学经验与体会进行了数次访谈。瞿老思维清晰，记忆力惊人，而平易谦和的长者风范，更令晚辈的我折服。访谈稿在此基础上写成并经瞿老审阅。
赵利栋(以下简称赵)：瞿老，您是清末军机大臣瞿鸿禨的嫡孙，能否简单介绍一下您的家世和童年的情况？
瞿同祖先生(以下简称瞿)：我是1910年7月12日(宣统二年，庚戌六月初六日)出生于湖南长沙。祖父文慎公(瞿鸿禨)生于1850年，岁在庚戌。我出生于庚戌年，故名同祖。出生之日，适为天贶节，故字天贶，后改天况。辛亥革命后，祖父挈全家迁居上海。我的童年是在上海度过的，在沪入小学。我是由祖父开蒙的，他每天教我《论语》，我是由《论语》开蒙的。父亲希马公(瞿宣治)先后在驻瑞士及荷兰公使馆任职，1923年于回国探亲途中病故于马赛。1924年叔父瞿兑之(瞿宣颖)迎养祖母来北京居住，挈我同行。我先后就读于育英中学、汇文中学。1928年母亲在沪病逝，因奔丧而辍学一年，故我晚一年毕业。 1930年毕业时，我以优异成绩被保送到燕京大学。[1] 我叔父文学修养很好，他给我讲汉赋，别的都是我自己自学的。中学教的国文不够用，放学回来后每天晚上点书经，看正文，看注释，作为自学的课，这对我后来的古文功底有很大的帮助。
赵：《尚书》是一本很难读的书，当时为什么不找一本稍为容易一点的书来自学呢？
瞿：为什么要选《尚书》，那是因为知道它难，自己想学，就从《尚书》入手，就是想从难的入手。
赵：瞿老，当年燕京大学培养出来的学生大多在学术上极有成就，就拿1930年与您同入燕京大学社会学系的同学来说，费孝通、林耀华等都是对社会学研究作出杰出贡献的学者，您也写出了能够传世的经典著作，我很想知道您当时在燕京大学的学习情况？ » 继续阅读 为学贵在勤奋与一丝不苟——瞿同祖先生访谈录 全文
苏力：重申的祝福——北大法学院2008级迎新致辞
各位2008级的新同学，大家好！
迎新会早该开了。前两天去日本开了个学术会，不去不好，就想就请守文书记致辞；他还是等我回来，让院长给新生说几句话。就这样耽搁了，实在对不起各位同学了。让我代表法学院全体师生，热烈欢迎2008级新同学来到北大，走进或走近也许自少年时代以来你的那个期待——当然，回家过了个暑假，回来继续上学的同学除外。
一些同学，特别是本科同学，还可能期待一份专门的、属于你们的致辞，为了你们的校园生活开始。但这个场合该说的话，其实，每年迎新会上，我大都说过了。在一个网络时代，你们或许已经熟悉；但也许还值得你们看看，不为那些文字，而是引出这文字的那些问题本身；问题可能没什么变化，变化的只是受众，或修辞。
说起来，30年前，前后也没差几天，我，和你们今天一样，梦一般踏进这个校园。恍恍惚惚，懵懵懂懂，找不到北，光看见大；一年过去后，考法理，也就是我今天的研究方向，惭愧地告诉各位同学，我考了全班最差。
不是在这里忏悔，头发都花了，再吟诵“少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲”，没意思，也很讽刺。我只是想和大家说说“期待”。人当然会有也应有期待，它其实是个人理想或愿景的一部分，是比较“小”、比较个人、很可能实现的那一部分；人活着也就是活在某种期待中，无论这个期待的社会评价。但期待常常作弄人；特别是那些把期待更多放在环境或他人而不是自己身上的人。在一定程度上，这是一种依赖，或会变成一种依赖，不仅高估了名校、名师、天时、地利乃至机遇等外部因素的作用，有时还隐含了对自己潜能和实力的高估。结果或者怨天尤人，或者得意猖狂，至于具体何时何种状态，则取决于一些偶然的因素。
不要以为进了北大自己就会如何如何，就能成为谁谁谁；我以前说过的，大意是，除了都属于北大这个专有名词之下，你我同陈独秀或胡适，鲁迅或毛泽东这些北大名人其实没什么关系；即使事先看来，有某一种有关你的未来成就的概率关系；但这种概率在统计学上公平分配，在现实中只能某人独占，而不管你觉得公平与否。其实这种概率在你没进北大也就存在，因为都是人，都是中国人；今天不过会让你感觉这种概率更高了一点。永远不要相信北大、清华乃至哈佛、剑桥本身有什么神奇，除非你自己努力，并且要贯穿于你在北大以及北大之后的一系列看得见和看不见的琐碎，甚至“无事”中。 » 继续阅读 苏力：重申的祝福——北大法学院2008级迎新致辞 全文
