The Public Domain

Enclosing the Commons of the Mind

Our failure to appreciate the importance of the public domain—the realm of material that is free for anyone to use without permission or fee—limits free speech, digital creativity, and scientific innovation, argues the author of this book. The public domain is under siege, and James Boyle explains why and how we must protect it.

©2008 Yale University Press (P)2008 Yale University Press

Required reading for the informed individual

While the book occasionally drags a little, it is an excellent treatment of the history of intellectual property, the current condition, and where we are headed. The citations of early American leaders are persuasive and the destruction of current misinformation on the topic is effective. Most people have warped, entitled views of intellectual property today, especially those who consider themselves creators. They believe that copyright is a basic inalienable human right, and fair use is an annoying loophole in their otherwise perfect control and ownership of creative (or not so creative) expression. Last, the book addresses some particularly frightening directions intellectual property law is heading, with software patents, bioengineering patents, and lawsuits like Apple's hypocritical "thermonuclear war" on Android.

Great Book, Unpracticed Narrator

This creative commons book is best read, and not listened to. The narrator is not bad overall - his voice has clarity, maturity, warmth and character - but he inserts strange-sounding pauses here and there, which is distracting. You can tell when he's reached the end of a particular line, but not the end of the sentence, which introduces discordance into the listening experience.