Without Copyrights: Piracy, Publishing, and the Public Domain

Piracy, Publishing, and the Public Domain

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Law, Intellectual Property, Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, British, American
Cover of the book Without Copyrights: Piracy, Publishing, and the Public Domain by Robert Spoo, Oxford University Press, USA
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Robert Spoo ISBN: 9780199344277
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Publication: June 13, 2013
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Robert Spoo
ISBN: 9780199344277
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication: June 13, 2013
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

The names of James Joyce and Ezra Pound ring out in the annals of literary modernism, but few recognize the name of Samuel Roth. A brash, business-savvy entrepreneur, Roth made a name--and a profit--for himself as the founding editor and owner of magazines that published selections from foreign writings--especially the risque parts--without permission. When he reprinted segments of James Joyce's epochal novel Ulysses, the author took him to court. Without Copyrights tells the story of how the clashes between authors, publishers, and literary "pirates" influenced both American copyright law and literature itself. From its inception in 1790, American copyright law offered no or less-than-perfect protection for works published abroad--to the fury of Charles Dickens, among others, who sometimes received no money from vast sales in the United States. American publishers avoided ruinous competition with each other through "courtesy of the trade," a code of etiquette that gave informal, exclusive rights to the first house to announce plans to issue an uncopyrighted foreign work. The climate of trade courtesy, lawful piracy, and the burdensome rules of American copyright law profoundly affected transatlantic writers in the twentieth century. Drawing on previously unknown legal archives, Robert Spoo recounts efforts by James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Bennett Cerf--the founder of Random House--and others to crush piracy, reform U.S. copyright law, and define the public domain. Featuring a colorful cast of characters made up of frustrated authors, anxious publishers, and willful pirates, Spoo provides an engaging history of the American public domain, a commons shaped by custom as much as by law, and of piracy's complex role in the culture of creativity.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The names of James Joyce and Ezra Pound ring out in the annals of literary modernism, but few recognize the name of Samuel Roth. A brash, business-savvy entrepreneur, Roth made a name--and a profit--for himself as the founding editor and owner of magazines that published selections from foreign writings--especially the risque parts--without permission. When he reprinted segments of James Joyce's epochal novel Ulysses, the author took him to court. Without Copyrights tells the story of how the clashes between authors, publishers, and literary "pirates" influenced both American copyright law and literature itself. From its inception in 1790, American copyright law offered no or less-than-perfect protection for works published abroad--to the fury of Charles Dickens, among others, who sometimes received no money from vast sales in the United States. American publishers avoided ruinous competition with each other through "courtesy of the trade," a code of etiquette that gave informal, exclusive rights to the first house to announce plans to issue an uncopyrighted foreign work. The climate of trade courtesy, lawful piracy, and the burdensome rules of American copyright law profoundly affected transatlantic writers in the twentieth century. Drawing on previously unknown legal archives, Robert Spoo recounts efforts by James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Bennett Cerf--the founder of Random House--and others to crush piracy, reform U.S. copyright law, and define the public domain. Featuring a colorful cast of characters made up of frustrated authors, anxious publishers, and willful pirates, Spoo provides an engaging history of the American public domain, a commons shaped by custom as much as by law, and of piracy's complex role in the culture of creativity.

More books from Oxford University Press, USA

Cover of the book Sudan, South Sudan, and Darfur:What Everyone Needs to Know by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book The Oxford Companion to Beer by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book Japan In World History by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book Islam and the Arab Awakening by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book From Colony to Superpower:U.S. Foreign Relations since 1776 by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book Aging Our Way: Independent Elders, Interdependent Lives by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book Music Language and the Brain by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book J. Robert Oppenheimer:A Life by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book Guns or Butter : The Presidency of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book American Renaissance : Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979-1989 by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book Hi-de-ho:The Life of Cab Calloway by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book A Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book The Quantum Ten : A Story Of Passion, Tragedy, Ambition, And Science by Robert Spoo
Cover of the book Colonial America:A Very Short Introduction by Robert Spoo
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy