To access the 2014-2015 Supplement click here. Copyright Law is unique among copyright casebooks in that it is tightly and coherently structured, intelligently distilled, and clearly contextualized. Halpern's casebook explores the complex and sometimes counterintuitive issues surrounding protection of intellectual creativity under US copyright law by ensuring that both student and professor always maintain an understanding of how doctrinal elements relate to the whole. Thus, the book is perfect for those students who have struggled with dense notes and opaque explanations, professors who have labored through cumbersome and poorly ordered texts, and for new teachers who need a concise and clear pedagogic template complete with both substantive doctrine and highly instructive cases. Simply put, Copyright Law is a refreshing primer on the title topic, and a welcome alternative to less coherent texts. The second edition expands upon the first and brings the material up-to-date while retaining its eminently teachable structure. "...a great primer for all things copyright...an excellent overview of the topic. The table of contents reads like a class outline you would 'borrow' from the smart guy sitting up front." -- Legal Information Alert, on the first edition

Professor Litman's work stands out as well-researched, doctrinally solid, and always piercingly well-written.-JANE GINSBURG, Morton L. Janklow Professor of Literary and Artistic Property, Columbia UniversityLitman's work is distinctive in several respects: in her informed historical perspective on copyright law and its legislative policy; her remarkable ability to translate complicated copyright concepts and their implications into plain English; her willingness to study, understand, and take seriously what ordinary people think copyright law means; and her creativity in formulating alternatives to the copyright quagmire. -PAMELA SAMUELSON, Professor of Law and Information Management; Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, University of California, BerkeleyIn 1998, copyright lobbyists succeeded in persuading Congress to enact laws greatly expanding copyright owners' control over individuals' private uses of their works. The efforts to enforce these new rights have resulted in highly publicized legal battles between established media and new upstarts.In this enlightening and well-argued book, law professor Jessica Litman questions whether copyright laws crafted by lawyers and their lobbyists really make sense for the vast majority of us. Should every interaction between ordinary consumers and copyright-protected works be restricted by law? Is it practical to enforce such laws, or expect consumers to obey them? What are the effects of such laws on the exchange of information in a free society?Litman's critique exposes the 1998 copyright law as an incoherent patchwork. She argues for reforms that reflect common sense and the way people actually behave in their daily digital interactions.This paperback edition includes an afterword that comments on recent developments, such as the end of the Napster story, the rise of peer-to-peer file sharing, the escalation of a full-fledged copyright war, the filing of lawsuits against thousands of individuals, and the June 2005 Supreme Court decision in the Grokster case.Jessica Litman (Ann Arbor, MI) is professor of law at Wayne State University and a widely recognized expert on copyright law.

In this book, leading scholars analyze the important role played by copyright exceptions in economic and cultural productivity.

The primary focus of this comprehensive text is on the Copyright Act of 1976 & the developing case law in our digital age & networked environment. Copyright law is presented in its institutional, economic & historical contexts. Its relationship with other areas of intellectual property law is explored. explores the latest statutory changes, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, & the Sonny Bono Term Extension Act recently passed by Congress. This highly effective text provides students with the necessary background & current doctrine to analyze copyright problems properly.