Fred von Lohmann posted a review of Bill Patry's book.
If you're looking for a basic primer on digital copyright, or the DMCA, or DRM, this isn't the book for you (instead, try these). Rather, Patry's contribution is to focus on the importance of metaphors and rhetoric in the policy debates (past and present) surrounding copyright.
The book has a blog.
For us Canadians, here is the Chapters/Indigo reference.
Here is the text of a press release I received later in the day:
For Immediate Release
September 22, 2009
Google’s Own Lays Bare on Copyright Wars
“Highly readable, with a clear, consistent thesis carrying the reader easily through (the) material.”
–The Globe and Mail
Toronto, ON—Oxford University Press releases today Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars by William Patry. William Patry, Senior Copyright Counsel for Google Inc. reframes the debate of copyright by focusing on how copyright can be used for the greater public good and fosters innovation. The book examines the evolution of copyright, tactical use of rhetoric in debate, and the use of copyright as a vehicle of learning.
Moral Panic and the Copyright Wars is an examination of the use of metaphors and rhetoric in contentious social and cultural debates and copyright specifically, as well as a larger examination of the evolution of copyright, highlighting differences between historical perceptions of copyright and the more aggressive approach that has driven developments in the law. It focuses on the tactical use of “moral panics” and “folk devils,” with specific examples and case studies to explain how copyright battles have unfolded, most often to the benefit of copyright owners, who have resisted innovation in the attempt to maintain their economic power.
William Patry is currently Senior Copyright Counsel at Google, and has been a copyright lawyer exclusively for 25 years. He has held government and academic positions and was a private lawyer for 12 years. He was copyright counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives and a Policy Planning Advisor to the Register of Copyrights. He was a full-time law professor at Cardozo Law School for 5 years and a part-time law professor at Georgetown Law School.