Free Culture

Free Culture
Lawrence Lessig
This version of Free Culture is licensed under a Creative Commons license. This license
permits non-commercial use of this work, so long as attribution is given.
visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/1.0/

FREE CULTURE

. PREFACE

FREE CULTURE

. INTRODUCTION

"PIRACY"

. CHAPTER ONE: Creators

. CHAPTER TWO: "Mere Copyists"

. CHAPTER THREE: Catalogs

. CHAPTER FOUR: "Pirates"

. CHAPTER FIVE: "Piracy"

"PROPERTY"

. CHAPTER SIX: Founders

. CHAPTER SEVEN: Recorders

. CHAPTER EIGHT: Transformers

. CHAPTER NINE: Collectors

. CHAPTER TEN: "Property"

PUZZLES

. CHAPTER ELEVEN: Chimera

. CHAPTER TWELVE: Harms

BALANCES

. CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Eldred

. CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Eldred II

. CONCLUSION

. AFTERWORD

. NOTES

. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

. INDEX

. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This version of Free Culture is licensed under a Creative Commons license. This license
permits non-commercial use of this work, so long as attribution is given.

visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/1.0/ 


This version of Free Culture is licensed under a Creative Commons license. This license
permits non-commercial use of this work, so long as attribution is given.
For more information about the license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/1.0/.


FREE CULTURE
ALSO BY LAWRENCE LESSIG
The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World
Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace
THE PENGUIN PRESS
NEW YORK 2004
FREE CULTURE
HOW BIG MEDIA USES TECHNOLOGY AND THE LAW TO LOCK DOWN
CULTURE AND CONTROL CREATIVITY
LAWRENCE LESSIG
THE PENGUIN PRESS
a member of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 375 Hudson Street
New York, New York 10014
Copyright © Lawrence Lessig, 2004
All rights reserved
Excerpt from an editorial titled "The Coming of Copyright Perpetuity," The New York
Times, January 16, 2003. Copyright © 2003 by The New York Times Co. Reprinted with
permission.

Cartoon by Paul Conrad on page 159. Copyright Tribune Media Services, Inc.
All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
Diagram on page 164 courtesy of the office of FCC Commissioner, Michael J. Copps.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lessig, Lawrence.
Free culture : how big media uses technology and the law to lock down culture and
control creativity / Lawrence Lessig.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-59420-006-8 (hardcover)
1. Intellectual property--United States. 2. Mass media--United States.
3. Technological innovations--United States. 4. Art--United States. I. Title.
KF2979.L47 2004 343.7309'9--dc22 2003063276
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Designed by Marysarah Quinn
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher
of this book.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other
means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please
purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage
electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is
appreciated.
To Eric Eldred--whose work first drew me to this cause, and for whom it continues
still.

CONTENTS
PREFACE xiii
INTRODUCTION 1
"PIRACY" 15

CHAPTER ONE
: Creators 21

CHAPTER TWO
: "Mere Copyists" 31

CHAPTER THREE
: Catalogs 48


CHAPTER FOUR
: "Pirates" 53
Film 53
Recorded Music 55 Radio 58
Cable TV 59

CHAPTER FIVE
: "Piracy" 62
Piracy I 63

Piracy II 66
"PROPERTY" 81

CHAPTER SIX
: Founders 85

CHAPTER SEVEN
: Recorders 95

CHAPTER EIGHT
: Transformers 100

CHAPTER NINE
: Collectors 108

CHAPTER TEN
: "Property" 116
Why Hollywood Is Right 124
Beginnings 130
Law: Duration 133
Law: Scope 136
Law and Architecture: Reach 139
Architecture and Law: Force 147
Market: Concentration 161

Together 168
PUZZLES 175

CHAPTER ELEVEN
: Chimera 177

CHAPTER TWELVE
: Harms 183
Constraining Creators 184
Constraining Innovators 188 Corrupting Citizens 199
BALANCES 209

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
: Eldred 213

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
: Eldred II 248
CONCLUSION 257
AFTERWORD 273
Us, Now 276
Rebuilding Freedoms Previously Presumed:
Examples 277
Rebuilding Free Culture: One Idea 282
Them, Soon 287

1. More Formalities 287
Registration and Renewal 289 Marking 290
2. Shorter Terms 292
3. Free Use Vs. Fair Use 294
4. Liberate the Music--Again 296
5. Fire Lots of Lawyers 304
NOTES 307
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 331
INDEX 333


PREFACE
At the end of his review of my first book, Code: And Other Laws of Cyberspace, David
Pogue, a brilliant writer and author of countless technical and computer-related texts,
wrote this:
Unlike actual law, Internet software has no capacity to punish. It doesn't affect people
who aren't online (and only a tiny minority of the world population is). And