Among the strongest counterarguments to the textbooks case is the law article "The Uneasy Case for Copyright", written by an academic and published in the Harvard Law Review in 1970. The author argued three principle points:
- That the only defensible justification of copyright is a consequentialist economic balance between maximizing the distribution of works and encouraging their production.
- That there is significant historical, logical, and anecdotal evidence which shows that exclusive rights will provide only limited increases in the volume of literary production, particularly within certain sections of the book market.
- That there was limited justification for contemporary expansions in the scope and duration of copyright.
A substantial portion of the analysis is directed to the textbook market.
Copyright at the time of publication required registration, and was for a term of 28 years, renewable for an additional term, so or 54 years, lapsing four years from now in 2024. Subsequent copyright revisions have extended by 41 years, to a total duration of 95 years, expiring in 2065. Best I can tell, copyright is held by the Harvard Law Review Association, rather than the author, presently Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Stephen Breyer.
Though the article is available via LibGen (or Sci-Hub).
- That the only defensible justification of copyright is a consequentialist economic balance between maximizing the distribution of works and encouraging their production.
- That there is significant historical, logical, and anecdotal evidence which shows that exclusive rights will provide only limited increases in the volume of literary production, particularly within certain sections of the book market.
- That there was limited justification for contemporary expansions in the scope and duration of copyright.
A substantial portion of the analysis is directed to the textbook market.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Uneasy_Case_for_Copyright
Copyright at the time of publication required registration, and was for a term of 28 years, renewable for an additional term, so or 54 years, lapsing four years from now in 2024. Subsequent copyright revisions have extended by 41 years, to a total duration of 95 years, expiring in 2065. Best I can tell, copyright is held by the Harvard Law Review Association, rather than the author, presently Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Stephen Breyer.
Though the article is available via LibGen (or Sci-Hub).
http://gen.lib.rus.ec/scimag/10.2307%2F1339714