Columbia Law : Academia

“The law is arcane and confusing,” agrees Jessica Litman ’83, professor of law at Wayne State University, who frequently testifies before Congress on the topic. Her latest book, Digital Copyright, was published in 2001 by Prometheus Books. Her book exposes the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act as an incoherent patchwork and argues for reforms that reflect common sense and the way people behave in their daily interactions. Professor Litman is also a co-author of Trademark and Unfair Competition Law (Foundation Press, 2001) with Professor Jane C. Ginsburg.

“We have to make some pretty fundamental decisions about the kind of law we want. A law that says 57 million users are breaking the law is not a sensible law,” Professor Litman says, regarding the Napster case. “I would like to see a channel of compensation to copyright owners without suing millions of people or bugging their hard drives.”

Professor Litman points to any number of existing models that could be used to protect copyright holders’ interests, such as compulsory licenses, the subscription model, the first sale doctrine, or a tax on blank media and computers similar to one that is being considered in Germany.

“No one disagrees that creators have the right to compensation,” adds Professor Litman. “But the copyright wars are about control, not whether creators should be paid.”

Paul Goldstein ’67 originally planned to teach history; then he took copyright law and fell in love with the subject. Now the Stella W. and Ira S. Lillick Professor of Law at Stanford University, Professor Goldstein has authored numerous books, most recently a treatise on international copyright law and a text on international intellectual property.

The one quality he wishes those practicing IP law would have is forbearance.

“Too many lawyers and policy makers feel the need to make law on Internet time, i.e., immediately,” he says. “To be stamping out fires and calling it policy is a terrible mistake.”

Edward B. Samuels ’74, professor and associate dean at New York Law School, is disturbed by claims that copyright protection is obsolete in the digital age.

“In the past century, copyright has changed dramatically in response to repeated technological revolutions in the way we create and replicate literary and artistic works,” says Professor Samuels. “The copyright law has changed more in the past 20 years than the prior 200. People don’t appreciate that.”

On the negative side, Professor Samuels adds that the law is two or three times longer than when he started teaching 25 years ago. “It’s jargon-laden and difficult to understand.”

To help address those issues, in 2001 Professor Samuels published The Illustrated History of Copyright (St. Martin’s Press), aimed at a lay audience. The book provides clear and detailed explanations of what copyright is, how it works, and how it may evolve to accommodate new technologies.