Overview

We all create intellectual property. We all use intellectual property. Intellectual property is the most pervasive yet least understood way we regulate expression. Despite its importance to so many aspects of the global economy and daily life, intellectual property policy remains a confusing and arcane subject. This engaging book clarifies both the basic terms and the major conflicts surrounding these fascinating areas of law, offering a layman's introduction to copyright, patents, trademarks, and other forms of knowledge falling under the purview of intellectual property rights. Using vivid examples, noted media expert Siva Vaidhyanathan illustrates the powers and limits of intellectual property, distilling with grace and wit the complex tangle of laws, policies, and values governing the dissemination of ideas, expressions, inventions, creativity, and data collection in the modern world. Through compelling case studies, including those of Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Sony, Amazon, and Google Books, Vaidhyanathan shows that the modern intellectual property systems reflect three centuries of changes in politics, economics, technologies, and social values. Although it emerged from a desire to foster creativity while simultaneously protecting it, intellectual property today has fundamentally shifted to a political dimension.

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Siva Vaidhyanathan is the Robertson Professor of Media Studies and the director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia. He produces a local public-affairs television program, several podcasts, and directs the publication of the Virginia Quarterly Review. A former professional journalist, he has published six books on technology, law, and society, including The Googlization of Everything. He has also contributed to publications such as the Nation, Slate, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Washington Post, BookForum, the New York Times Book Review, and the Baffler. Shawn K. Jain is a Harvard University/Moscow Art Theater School/A.R.T. Institute graduate. Shawn has TV credits for shows on Apple TV+, CBS, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Showtime, and Peacock, and he has narrated audiobooks for Penguin Random House, Hachette, Bloomsbury, HarperCollins, Epic!, Blackstone, GraphicAudio, and HQN. Shawn can be heard on many episodes of the romcom podcast Meet Cute and on Atypical Artists' audio dramas Life with LEO(h) and Maxine Miles. He also voiced a migrant worker for UCLA Labor Center's Re: Work Radio podcast. Sean Daniels, artistic director of Arizona Theatre Company, said he finds ""few actors funnier in the world than Shawn."" Prior to saying yes to his calling to be an actor, Shawn was a communications and marketing professional who did important work with organizations like the ACLU and the International AIDS Society. Born and raised in Northern California, Shawn received his BA from UC Berkeley. In addition to acting, Shawn has several pilots in development. Shawn writes stories that deal with the brokenness of people and society (even when things seem glittering and beautiful on the outside). Shawn is queer and of South Asian descent. A native English speaker who is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Hindi, Shawn can do British, Farsi, Hindi, Indian, Urdu, and Arabic accents.

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