Everyone Breaks These Laws: How Copyrights Made the Online World [Hardcover]

Copyright’s profound impact on the online world as we know it
 
This book is a captivating exploration of the profound impact of American copyright law on our online lives. By telling stories about hope, art, greed, and fear and how they have affected the legal dimensions of creativity and technological change, this book uncovers the hidden forces shaping our digital world.
 
Gerardo Con Díaz examines the strange world of online copyrights from the 1990s to today’s AI-driven era, showing how our ability to immerse ourselves in digital media depends on the erosion of what it means for people to own their creative works, online and offline. He delves into the often overlooked impact of digital ownership on privacy and self-expression in this fascinating field guide to the complex landscape of online rights.Copyright’s profound impact on the online world as we know it“A brilliant encore to hisSoftware Rights, Con Díaz’sEveryone Breaks These Lawsskillfully analyzes copyright law and online culture. Exploring privacy, property, and power, it is an essential historical scaffolding informing new challenges with copyright and AI.”— Jeffrey R. Yost, author ofMaking IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry

“Everyone Breaks These Lawsis an exciting, innovative, and sorely needed book examining the role of copyright in shaping internet culture. Con Díaz argues convincingly that a deep engagement with copyright is essential to understanding the internet’s past development, present condition, and potential futures.”—Kevin Driscoll, author ofThe Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media

“Everyone Breaks These Lawsis a triumph of form and substance. By tracking a series of copyright lawsuits, the book shows how the internet’s history has shaped what we experience online, frl¡