Written on the occasion of copyright's 300th anniversary, John Tehranian's Infringement Nation presents an engaging and accessible analysis of the history and evolution of copyright law and its profound impact on the lives of ordinary individuals in the twenty-first century. Organized around the trope of the individual in five different copyright-related contexts - as an infringer, transformer, pure user, creator and reformer - the book charts the changing contours of our copyright regime and assesses its vitality in the digital age. In the process, Tehranian questions some of our most basic assumptions about copyright law by highlighting the unseemly amount of infringement liability an average person rings up in a single day, the counterintuitive role of the fair use doctrine in radically expanding the copyright monopoly, the important expressive interests at play in even the unauthorized use of copyright works, the surprisingly low level of protection that American copyright law grants many creators, and the broader political import of copyright law on the exertion of social regulation and control. Drawing upon both theory and the author's own experiences representing clients in various high-profile copyright infringement suits, Tehranian supports his arguments with a rich array of diverse examples crossing various subject matters - from the unusual origins of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the question of numeracy among Amazonian hunter-gatherers, the history of stand-offs at papal nunciatures, and the tradition of judicial plagiarism to contemplations on Slash's criminal record, Barbie's retrousse nose, the poisonous tomato, flag burning, music as a form of torture, the smell of rotting film, William Shakespeare as a man of the people, Charles Dickens as a lobbyist, Ashley Wilkes's sexual orientation, Captain Kirk's reincarnation, and Holden Caulfield's maturation. In the end, Infringement Nation makes a sophisticated yet lucid case for reform of existing doctrine and the development of a copyright 2.0.

About the Author
John Tehranian is a tenured Professor of Law at Chapman University, School of Law, where he serves as Director of the Entertainment Law Center. He is also a founding partner of One LLP, an entertainment and intellectual property firm in Southern California known for handling high-profile copyright infringement litigation. In the course of his legal practice, Tehranian has represented clients in a wide range of cases, from the alleged infringement of Winston Churchill's speeches, an ownership dispute over the recording of Jimi Hendrix's last major concert, and publicity rights over the images of Bette Davis and Bettie Page to fair use rights to Britney Spears photographs, remake rights to a Jules Verne novel and political parody rights to a Don Henley classic. Tehranian has previously served as Professor of Law at the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law, and as Visiting Professor of Law at Loyola Law School.

Reviews
^i Infringement Nation^ includes a thorough and compelling analysis of the evolution of copyright law, including the surprising role of fair use doctrine "in the problematic expansion of the copyright monopoly. [It] offers unique insight into the perils of a future in which harsh sanctions and overbroad infringement claims continue to diverge from societal norms, and makes a convincing case for immediate reform of the copyright regime. * Harvard Law Review. *
Offers unique insight into the perils of a future in which harsh sanctions and overbroad infringement claims continue to diverge from societal norms, and makes a convincing case for immediate reform of the copyright regime. * Harvard Law Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199733170
Author John Tehranian
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 590g
Dimensions(mm) 180mm * 234mm * 28mm