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1. The Law of Public Communication, 2005 Edition by Kent R. Middleton, William E. Lee, Bill F. Chamberlin | |
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our price: $72.00 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0205418937 Catlog: Book (2004-07-20) Publisher: Allyn & Bacon Sales Rank: 503479 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
2. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity by Lawrence Lessig | |
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our price: $15.72 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 1594200068 Catlog: Book (2004-03-01) Publisher: Penguin Books Sales Rank: 6113 Average Customer Review: ![]() US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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Reviews (11)
Lessig provides a very readable overview of the issues and history surrounding copyright, including an inside look at his efforts to have the Supreme Court rule Congress' continual copyright extensions unconstitutional (Eldred v. Ashcroft). The strength of Free Culture is the anecdotes it presents, from 18th century publishers trying to keep Shakespeare out of the public domain to a modern corporation trying to keep Mickey Mouse out of the public domain, with minimal bias but the clear message that things are going wrong. While Free Culture is weak in spots, it may well change the way you think about intellectual property. You can even download the book for free!
Disney's great creativity was built on the work of others. In 1928 the average term of copyright was thirty years. Today public domain is presumptive only for work created before the Great Depression. In the world free culture has been broadly exploited. Japan has a huge market of knock off comics and does not have many lawyers. We celebrate property but there is plenty of value not subject to the strictures of property law. George Eastman created roll film and the upshot was the era of mass photography. The real significance was not economic but social. Now the internet allows creations to be shared, web logs, blogs, have grown dramatically. Blogs are a virtual public meeting. They are unchoreographed public discourse. Bloggers are amateur journalists. John Seely Brown of Xerox believes we learn by tinkering. Recording music, radio, cable TV all were technologies involving forms of piracy. The piracy problems were solved by legislation. Peer to peer sharing was made famous by Napster. It is not clear that the file sharing has caused the decline in the sale of CDs. In 1710 the British parliament adopted the first copyright act. In the last three hundred years the concept of copyright has been applied ever more broadly. The copyright law was a limitation on the power of book sellers. A decision in 1774 in the House of Lords held the limitation in the Copyright Act set forth the notion of a Public Domain. The common laws right of a publisher's monopoly was broken. A documentary film maker could not rely on the fair use doctrine in showing a short glimpse of THE SIMPSONS in an employee break room. The author claims that Jack Valenti analyzes intellectual property improperly. In 1790 Congress enacted the first copyright law. In 1976 the law changed the scheme and for all works created after 1978 there was only one copyright term, the author's life plus fifty years. For corporations the term was seventy-five years. An amendment to the law extended the term for an individual to ninety five years. Copyright protects derivative uses also. Technology researchers have been warned they may be in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Technologies of the internet are open to snoops as well as sharers. The change in concentration and integration of the media is cause for concern. There should be an evaluation of the loss of independence. The author cautions that in the case of internet technology a land grab is taking place. Currently there is a widely punitive system tending to stifle creativity. The author believes that a reasonable balance between opposing interests in the area of intellectual property has been lost.
This represents one case of how technology allows content providers to introduce new restrictions that have no basis in copyright law or practice as it existed until recently. The Adobe eBook Reader allows such providers to limit even "fair use", or any use, even for books that are not in fact copyrighted. Congress and the courts have however been quick to provide shelter for this increasing control garnered and enforced by content owners. These and other trends lead to Lessig's main point: "the Internet should at least force us to rethink the conditions under which the law of copyright automatically applies, because it is clear that the current reach of copyright was never contemplated, much less chosen, by the legislators who enacted copyright law." As evidenced by the preceding quote, Lessig's language is seldom extreme, although the instances he cites and the conclusions he draws are truly alarming. He lays out his case in a methodical, always interesting, and frequently entertaining approach. He begins historically, leading us through the record of how we and the courts have defined "property" and "property rights", particularly as they apply to intellectual and cultural property. He demonstrates how, in the U.S., almost every segment of the media industry began with "piracy" of some sort. He cites how, until now, the decisive judgments by the courts in cases dealing with such "piracy" have almost always been in support of, ultimately, the "free" dissemination of culture. Essential to Lessig's story is the specific history of copyright law. In the U.S., the first such law in 1790 established a copyright term of 14 years, allowed for only one renewal (also for 14 years), and required registration. With the passage of the "Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act" (CTEA) in 1998, we now have an effective term of 95 years, renewal is essentially automatic, and no registration is required. (One of the most compelling sections, although not critical to Lessig's overall narrative, is how he unsuccessfully argued in the Supreme Court against CTEA.) As "Free Culture" demonstrates, even more effective than recent Congressional action in stifling cultural dissemination have been the efforts of people and groups such as Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The author shows that their favorite weapon is the harassment suit that overwhelms the defendants' fiscal ability to respond. Valenti and the MPAA sued to outlaw VCRs (luckily Sony did have the wherewithal to defend itself). The RIAA sued the Girl Scouts for singing around the campfire. And the two groups combined to spend about $1.5M in lobbying leading up to the passage of the Sony Bono Act. Lessig closes with some very specific and detailed proposals of how we can fight these increasing incursions on the free spread of culture. This is a valuable and necessary book. For the most part, it is lucidly argued and engagingly written. The examples, metaphors, and illustrations are plentiful and right on the mark. The flow of the book has, I think, just two lapses that, while perhaps obscure, may interfere with a reader's ability to follow Lessig's logic at critical junctures. One such lapse is that he does not clearly maintain the distinction between digital, Internet-based technologies for cultural dissemination and those non-digital ones which will live on. His arguments in the first half of the book seem to suggest that he believes that "hard-copy" media will eventually disappear, or at least that all new works will, at some point, be produced only via electronic means. I doubt if this is precisely how he envisions the future; he needs I think to clarify how he sees the distinction playing out. The second lapse is this. The ability of big media conglomerates to recruit the courts and copyright law to their side is based on a legal determination that, as Lessig puts it,"each use of the Internet produces a copy." He glides over this point without fully explaining how that is so. Since it is so vital to the whole structure of how the law deals with the Internet, and since it will seem counter-intuitive to many, it would have been helpful for the author to have fully explained it and to have done so early in the book. Media conglomerate attacks on music-sharing, campfire-singing, and movie-sampling may seem entirely justified to many. "Free Culture" sees and presents clearly the kind of constricted cultural future this might well lead to. My favorite passage is when Lessig writes: "lawyers are rarely empirical." Lawrence Lessig is a lawyer, and he has written a very empirical book.
Lessig does a formidable job of making the issue come alive for both experts and laymen with his use of anecdotes that clearly illustrate how the ever-growing term and scope of copyright have stifled creativity and shrunken the portion of our culture in the public domain. He shows how the content industry is trying to redefine IP as the equivalent of tangible property, when it is not and has never been, and how that industry has manipulated Congress and the Courts to get closer to its goal. If you followed the Eldred v. Ashcroft case (like I did; I was lucky to be at oral argument before the Supremes), you'll want to pick up this book for Lessig's inside account. Most of it is a mea culpa for not realizing that the Court didn't want a constitutional argument, but a consequentialist one. I'm not sure this would have made a difference. The Court's right, who, like Lessig, I thought would chime in for a strict reading of what is clear language of "limited times" in the Copyright Clause, must have had some special reason for turning their backs on their originalist rhetoric and I doubt that a political argument would have changed their minds. I still can't understand what that reason might be, and I refuse to believe it's just the dead hand of stare decisis that gave Scalia pause. Lessig is obviously very upset at that Justice; while he does mention having clerked for Judge Posner, Lessig doesn't mention in his bio (neither in the dust jacket nor the back pages of the book) that he clerked for Scalia in 1990-91. One curious thing about the book is that throughout it Lessig implies that he is a leftist and that the ideas he is advocating are leftist. He patronizingly writes at a couple of points that he would be surprised if a person on the right had read that far. I think he is selling himself-and conservative readers-short. In fact, there is very little in the book incompatible with a conservative or libertarian free-market viewpoint. Private interests using the power of the state to distort the market and quash their competitors, and an originalist Jeffersonian interpretation of the Constitution as the response are very conservative themes indeed. But it's not all agreement. I, like most free marketeers, will object to parts of Free Culture. Foremost among them are Lessig's concerns about media concentration. The fact is that there are more options today in television and radio than 20 years ago, and the the explosion of Internet sites and blogs, which Lessig spends most of the book lauding, belies the idea that news can be controlled. And it is interesting that Lessig seems to understand this. He says that he has seen concentration only as market efficiency in action, and that only recently has he 'begun to change his mind'. His skepticism is reflected in the fact that he only dedicated a small section (7 pages) to the issue. Another point of contention will be some of the solutions he proposes. While I applaud the idea of shorter terms that must be renewed with payment of a token fee, compulsory licensing and fees paid out by the government out of general revenues is beyond the pail. Won't such mechanisms be ripe for corporate manipulation as well? Still, small quibbles aside, this book beautifully puts the IP issue in perspective. Everyone is touched by copyright whether they know it or not. This book shows us how the future of our culture is a dark one unless we change course soon. ... Read more |
3. Objection! : How High-Priced Defence Attorneys, Celebrity Defendants, and a 24/7 Media Have Hijacked Our Criminal Justice System by Nancy Grace | |
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our price: $16.47 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 1401301800 Catlog: Book (2005-06-08) Publisher: Hyperion US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
Book Description Nancy Grace is a name millions of Americans recognize from her regular appearances on Court TV and Larry King Live. Legions of loyal fans tune in for her opinions on today's high-profile cases and her expert commentary on the challenges facing the American judicial system. Now, in Objection!, she makes her case for what's wrong with the legal system and what can be done about it. Grace has inside access to the court cases everyone in America is talking about and she offers readers a rare behind-the-scenes look at what goes on both inside and outside the courtroom during these trials-all in her trademark sassy, in-your-face style. In Objection!, she reveals surprising -- and sometimes shocking -- insights and information surrounding the cases of: --Scott Peterson --Robert Blake An outspoken critic of the atmosphere surrounding today's biggest courtroom battles and an ardent victim's rights advocate, Grace provides an articulate, well-informed point of view on the cases that are shaping the course of judicial history. |
4. Major Principles of Media Law, 2005 Edition (with InfoTrac) by Wayne G. Overbeck | |
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our price: $72.95 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0534619185 Catlog: Book (2004-08-13) Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Sales Rank: 303308 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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5. Major Principles of Media Law, 2004 Edition (with InfoTrac) by Wayne G. Overbeck | |
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our price: $76.95 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0534619150 Catlog: Book (2003-08-21) Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Sales Rank: 422637 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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6. Mass Media Law, 2005/2006 Edition with PowerWeb and Free Student CD-ROM by Don R Pember, ClayCalvert | |
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our price: $76.56 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0072985356 Catlog: Book (2004-04-29) Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages Sales Rank: 139919 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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7. The Law of Public Communication, Sixth Edition by Kent R. Middleton, William E. Lee, Bill F. Chamberlin | |
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our price: $74.20 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0205343503 Catlog: Book (2003-08-08) Publisher: Allyn & Bacon Sales Rank: 257727 Average Customer Review: ![]() US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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8. The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the Twenty-First Century by Robert W. McChesney | |
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our price: $11.53 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 1583671056 Catlog: Book (2004-03-01) Publisher: Monthly Review Press Sales Rank: 13454 Average Customer Review: ![]() US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
Book Description Praise for Robert W. McChesney "Robert McChesney's work has been of extraordinary importance. . . . It should be read with care and concern by people who care about freedom and basic rights." "Robert McChesney is one of the nation's most important analysts of the media." The symptoms of the crisis of the U.S. media are well-knowna decline in hard news, the growth of info-tainment and advertorials, staff cuts and concentration of ownership, increasing conformity of viewpoint and suppression of genuine debate. McChesney's new book, The Problem of the Media, gets to the roots of this crisis, explains it, and points a way forward for the growing media reform movement. Moving consistently from critique to action, the book explores the political economy of the media, illuminating its major flashpoints and controversies by locating them in the political economy of U.S. capitalism. It deals with issues such as the declining quality of journalism, the question of bias, the weakness of the public broadcasting sector, and the limits and possibilities of antitrust legislation in regulating the media. It points out the ways in which the existing media system has become a threat to democracy, and shows how it could be made to serve the interests of the majority. McChesney's Rich Media, Poor Democracy was hailed as a pioneering analysis of the way in which media had come to serve the interests of corporate profit rather than public enlightenment and debate. Bill Moyers commented, "If Thomas Paine were around, he would have written this book." The Problem of the Media is certain to be a landmark in media studies, a vital resource for media activism, and essential reading for concerned scholars and citizens everywhere. Reviews (2)
The current wave of media deregulation has been greased by big media money in the halls of power, and influence peddling among a few power players (including FCC chairman Michael Powell, whom McChesney unapologetically cuts down to size). The common people are left out of the loop, with a loss of media coverage toward local and dissenting viewpoints, and more and more lowest-common denominator media content. Despite the rhetoric about free trade and capitalism, today's media is far from competitive and equitable. Instead it's a hyper-commercial oligarchy of power consolidation and political power grabbing, and McChesney provides plenty of evidence and eloquent arguments about these trends and the damage they are doing to popular democracy. Certain parts of this book also serve as a monumentally informative primer on modern neoconservative politics, with that movement's almost total contempt for the public interest and slavish kowtowing to corporate bigwigs. That makes this book essential for media watchdogs, plus more general political observers who can then learn more about media trends as a specific issue. A bonus is Chapter 3 in which McChesney brutally deconstructs the standard right-wing claims of "liberal bias" in the media, finding that this is merely an attempt by conservatives to monopolize social thought, in addition to income and political power. This book's final chapter presents a partial happy ending in documenting the vast popular uprising that is now confronting the media giants and their pocketed politicians. The people are up for a long fight against media money and power, but all those who read this outstanding treatise from McChesney will certainly have the knowledge necessary for true democratic progress. [~doomsdayer520~]
This book explains the early traditions of American media, how the media has been coopted and corrupted by the Right and by powerful commercial interests, and how this situation has become self-perpetuating and institutionalized by the FCC. Don't be persuaded that this book is a left wing screed. Although this issue is a major reason why we have a Bush administration, it is not a personal indictment. Rather, it is an indictment of the system that is, and a case for why it should be (and once was) very different. Robert McChesney tries hard to be an honest broker of information about the Media and he largely succeeds. In the lengthy (chapter-length) appendix, he is meticulous with his sources and invites further reading on all sides of the issue. While you're reading McChesney, read John Nichols (and particularly the book they wrote together, called "Our Media, Not Theirs"). The next time you hear people ranting about the liberal media, ask them to question who influenced them to think that way and point them to this book. Consider: why is it that the more citizens question the consolidation and bias of the media, the more the issue is fogged up by figures in the media? The answers are simple; McChesney helps the reader understand. ... Read more |
9. Law, Liability & Ethics for the Medical Office Professional, 4E by Myrtle R. Flight | |
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our price: $63.95 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 1401840337 Catlog: Book (2003-12-08) Publisher: Thomson Delmar Learning Sales Rank: 158513 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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10. The Independent Film Producer's Survival Guide: A Business and Legal Sourcebook by Gunnar Erickson, Harris Tulchin, Mark Halloran | |
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our price: $24.95 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0825673186 Catlog: Book (2005-02) Publisher: Schirmer Trade Books Sales Rank: 26234 Average Customer Review: ![]() US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
Book Description Reviews (9)
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11. Communication Law in America by Paul Siegel | |
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our price: $69.80 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0205289878 Catlog: Book (2001-07-23) Publisher: Allyn & Bacon Sales Rank: 542735 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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12. Business and Legal Forms for Theater by Charles Grippo | |
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our price: $19.77 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 1581153236 Catlog: Book (2004-03-01) Publisher: Allworth Press Sales Rank: 346033 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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13. Speaking Our Minds: Conversations With the People Behind Landmark First Amendment Cases (Volume in Lea's Communication Series) by Joseph Russomanno | |
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our price: $45.00 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 080583768X Catlog: Book (2002-04-01) Publisher: Lea Sales Rank: 840602 Average Customer Review: ![]() US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
Reviews (1)
The book is a compilation of interviews with lawyers, plaintiffs and defendants from 10 key First Amendment law cases that deal with topics such as freedom of expression, libel, privacy, the use of anonymous sources, free press vs. fair trial, commercial speech, broadcast and cable regulation, and new media regulation. While Russomanno probably intended this book to be used in a Mass Communication Law class, it is also a fascinating read for anyone interested in our right to "speak our minds." The book is well written (especially the Nebraska Press chapter), well researched and interesting on many levels. Definitely a great addition to any collection. If you're into the First Amendment, you must have this book! |
14. The Interviewer's Handbook: A Guerilla Guide: Techniques & Tactics for Reporters & Writers by John Brady | |
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our price: $13.57 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0871162059 Catlog: Book (2004-04-01) Publisher: Writer Sales Rank: 62138 Average Customer Review: ![]() US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
Reviews (2)
For the socially shy- Chapter 22 "Best Questions" has goodies for cocktail chit-chat stuff. This book, sprinkled with wit, humor, insight, could easily change your life. Highly recommended. Easily digestible. Miriam Erick/ Boston |
15. Law On The Screen (Amherst Series in Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought) | |
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our price: $50.00 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0804751625 Catlog: Book (2005-05-30) Publisher: Stanford University Press Sales Rank: 548643 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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16. Mcnae's Essential Law For Journalists by Tom Welsh, Walter Greenwood | |
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our price: $28.50 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0406959498 Catlog: Book (2003-06-30) Publisher: Oxford University Press Sales Rank: 781149 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
17. Reel Justice : The Courtroom Goes to the Movies by Paul Bergman, Michael Asimow | |
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our price: $10.17 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0836210352 Catlog: Book (1996-05-01) Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing Sales Rank: 21627 Average Customer Review: ![]() US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
Reviews (6)
You learn a lot about the law through the authors' explanations of what famous trial scenes in the movies were based in actual law or not. And you get lots of insights into the making of many excellent movies. Not only did I enjoy this book enormously, I've also used it as a guide for what movies to rent.
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18. Pharmacy Law Digest 2004 (Pharmacy Law Digest) by Iii, Joseph L. Fink, Joseph, III Fink, Jesse C. Vivian, Kim Keller Reid | |
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(price subject to change: see help) Asin: 1574391674 Catlog: Book (2003-10-01) Publisher: Facts and Comparisons Sales Rank: 624425 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
19. Stylebook And Briefing On Media Law by Nora Goldstein | |
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our price: $13.75 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0917360230 Catlog: Book (2004-05-31) Publisher: Associated Pr Sales Rank: 303604 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
20. The Law of Privacy and the Media by Michael Tugendhat, Iain Christie | |
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our price: $245.00 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0199254303 Catlog: Book (2003-01-01) Publisher: Oxford University Press Sales Rank: 2320609 US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
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