The Cranky Copyright Book

What’s the project?

The Cranky Copyright Book – yes, that will probably be the title – is a forthcoming book about reforming copyright to protect creators.

What isn’t it about?

The Cranky Copyright Book isn’t about the death of the music industry (actually the CD industry) or the death of journalism (actually the newspaper industry). It isn’t about what the Framers of the Constitution wanted or would have wanted. (It isn’t about U.S. law, though it has lessons for Americans.) It isn’t about the agora or the Commons.

It’s about you, the individual creator. It’s about the rights you already have if you live pretty much anywhere other than the United States (and the equivalent rights that Americans dearly need). It educates you on the ways that two diametrically opposed viewpoints (copyright maximalism and minimalism) have dominated that discussion, leading you to believe you have only those two options.

It’s a book about the lived experience of recent copyright experiments, including Creative Commons. I go behind the bluster and find out what really happened to those CC-licensed works. The book debunks the myth of remix culture and introduces readers, perhaps for the first time, to the real remix culture – a place where remixing always happens with permission and everybody gets paid.

How’s it different?

The Cranky Copyright Book is a response to the two conflicting narratives of copyright that have dominated the discourse since the 1990s.

One story, the corporate or copyright-maximalist view, is represented by industry groups like the MPAA, the RIAA, and CRIA. Copyright law is interpreted literally; even minor duplications of computer files are viewed as egregious violations that merit gigantic fines; people act as though legal exemptions don’t exist; copyright should apply forever; DRM keeps even otherwise-dishonest people honest and is generally a good idea.

The other story, the copyleftist or copyright-minimalist view, is represented by luminaries like Cory Doctorow, Michael Geist, and (especially) Larry Lessig and by organizations like the EFF and Creative Commons. Here, copyright is viewed as a mechanism for general cultural enrichment; copyright law needs to be updated to recognize the relatively harmless and arguably beneficial habits digital natives already have, and existing exemptions need to be interpreted broadly; DRM doesn’t work in the first place and squelches people’s legal rights.

Both sides have good points, but both sides miss a bigger point: Who’s sticking up for the individual creator? Neither side is. The maximalist side wants to collect as many copyrights under a corporate umbrella as possible, guarding them forever. The minimalist side wants you to voluntarily surrender most of your important rights – also forever – on the off chance that “the culture” might someday wish to use your work. Both sides argue in favour of a rapacious maw that consumes rights the way a panda chews through bamboo.

What rights? Yours – the individual creator’s.

At the outset, I know I absolutely will not dislodge the position of the market leaders in copyright reform, Larry Lessig and Michael Geist. You’ve already decided that the MPAA, the RIAA, CRIA, and their ilk are always wrong and are your enemies, while Lessig and Geist are always right and are your heroes.

But here’s what’s going to happen: You’re going to read what I have to say and begrudgingly admit I’ve got a point. Then you’ll probably just revert to your previous position, the one that has provided such comfort to you in the past. It gave you an assurance you were creative and an underdog. Whereas what I want to do is change the law so it safeguards your rights as an individual creator.

Book details

• It’s going to be a printed book and an electronic book (a P-book and an E-book).
• It will be issued by a mainstream publisher (however that’s defined; the point is it won’t be self-published).
• It won’t be crowdsourced.
• It won’t be a collection of Twits or a bunch of PowerPoints printed out.
• It will carry bog-standard copyright terms. To make that clearer, it won’t be licensed under Creative Commons. You’ll have all the rights you usually do in whatever country you live in (e.g., fair use and fair dealing). If you need to do something else with it that somehow sits beyond existing law, ask.

The book hasn’t been written yet

I’m going to spend the next months, possibly a year, working on The Cranky Copyright Book. I need to find a real publisher, sign a contract, conduct extensive research, and write something that’s (a) new and (b) bulletproof. This isn’t going to be easy, and I can’t go it alone. That’s why I’m inviting you to contribute to the project in one way or another – either chipping in a bit of E-cash or showing moral support on your blog.

About this site

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