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Author | Lawrence Lessig |
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Language | English |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Publisher | Penguin Press |
Publication date | 2004 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
ISBN | 978-1-59420-006-9 |
Preceded by | The Future of Ideas |
Followed by | Code: Version 2.0 |
Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity (published in paperback as Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity) is a 2004 book by law professor Lawrence Lessig that was released on the Internet under the Creative Commons Attribution/Non-commercial license on March 25, 2004.
This book documents how copyright power has expanded substantially since 1974 in five critical dimensions:
It also documents how this industry has successfully used the legal system to limit competition to the major media corporations through legal action against:
The result is a legal and economic environment that stifles "the Progress of Science and useful Arts", exactly the opposite of the purpose cited in the US Constitution. It may not be possible today to produce another Mickey Mouse, because many of its early cartoon themes might be considered "derivative works" of some existing copyrighted material (as indicated in the subtitle to the hardback edition and in numerous examples in this book).