History of Copyright and What It Means For Google

Google Tech Talks August 15, 2006 Karl Fogel ABSTRACT Copyright is derived from a 16th-century English censorship law, later turned into a monopoly right to subsidize distribution. This history is somewhat at odds with the modern conception of copyright, and an understanding of it is increasingly important today, as the economics of distribution are changing radically. This talk will give the audience a mid-level overview of copyright's history, with pointers to further reading, followed by a survey of alternative economic bases for creation and distribution, and a discussion of what these dynamics mean for companies, like Google, that flourish in an environment of frictionless information sharing. I will leave as much time as possible for Q&A. This is a slight reworking of a talk I just gave at OSCON in Portland, see http://www.questioncopyright.org/node/5 for more.