Business in the Contemporary Legal Environment is a well-written, comprehensive coursebook providing complete coverage of the areas typically included in a one-semester legal environment course. The authors explain various areas of the law in plain English, with an emphasis on the implications and applications of these areas in a business setting. A combination of classic and contemporary cases clearly illustrates how the law is applied. In addition, helpful discussion questions and You Decide questions at the end of each chapter teach students how to identify and analyze legal issues that are frequently encountered in business. Thoughtful pedagogy and well-designed exhibits throughout the book help make the concepts easier to understand. New to the Fourth Edition: New Contemporary cases are included throughout the book, focusing on current and timely issues. Coverage dedicated to diversity and inclusion thoughtfully integrated into the text. Several chapters discuss technology issues including protecting employee passwords (Chapters 12 and 20); punishing computer crimes (Chapter 13); and protecting technology (Chapters 8 and 20). Students are asked to consider the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in several chapters. Part III on Contracts streamlined to make the content even more accessible and teachable. Professors and students will benefit from: Student-friendly introduction to those legal topics most relevant to businesspeople. Effective use of cases. Every chapter begins with a Classic Case, a case from the past that helped to set the precedents for the material covered in the chapter. The authors then conclude each chapter with a Contemporary Case, a recent decision that shows a current application of one of the principles discussed in the chapter. The authors wrote the facts, issues, and holdings, and excerpted the reasons from the court opinion to make the cases more manageable. An Ounce of Prevention strategy boxes discuss situations that frequently occur in a business environment and strategies for handling those situations in a manner that will reduce potential legal problems. You Decide questions, based on current issues in the news, engage students with high-interest and relevant topics. Good balance between court cases and author-written text. Exercises and examples that help students to identify and analyze legal issues that are frequently encountered in business. Helpful exhibits that summarize concepts but don't overwhelm the text. Thoughtful, classroom-tested text written by an experienced author team. Helpful glossary of legal terms

A consensus has recently emerged among academics and policymakers that US copyright law has fallen out of balance. Lawmakers have responded by taking up proposals to reform the Copyright Act. But how should they proceed? This book offers a new and insightful view of copyright, marking the path toward a world less encumbered by legal restrictions and yet richer in art, music, and other expressive works. Two opposing viewpoints have driven the debate over copyright policy. One side questions copyright for the same reasons it questions all restraints on freedoms of expression, and dismisses copyright, like other forms of property, as a mere plaything of political forces. The opposing side regards copyrights as property rights that deserve—like rights in houses, cars, and other forms of property—the fullest protection of the law. Each of these viewpoints defends important truths. Both fail, however, to capture the essence of copyright. In Intellectual Privilege, Tom W. Bell reveals copyright as a statutory privilege that threatens our natural and constitutional rights. From this fresh perspective come fresh solutions to copyright’s problems. Published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.