The Copyright Book: A Practical Guide [antikvár]

Preface to the Second Edition Since this book first appeared in the middle of 1981, a great many changes have occurred in the law of copyright. Recent opinions have clarified some issues in the law and muddied others. Some of those changes have attracted a good deal of attention. Not only the roller-coaster fate of home videotaping, but also the more abstruse questions of copyright as applied to computer software, have garnered newspaper headlines and weekly magazine coverage. Of the two, computer software copyright is by far the more important, and perplexing, question. I have significantly expanded my treatment of the subject, with a view to telling you where matters stand as of press time, and also what unresolved issues remain that present, in my view, the greatest difficulties. I have also taken the opportunity of this revision to expand my discussion of some matters that seemed, in retrospect, to deserve lengthier treatment than they received the first time around, and to explicate a few passages that puzzled earlier readers. I am grateful for the many comments I have received, whether praiseful or, as they say, "constructive." My aim will always be to make this book as useful, accurate, and current as I know how. You provide me the incentive, and you should reap the benefit.