The New Yorker has a lengthy and fascinating essay on the history of copyright law in the United States, and the ways in which the law has tried to keep pace with changes in both technology and business practices. The piece provides a nice overview of the legal theories underlying copyright law, and raises questions about the direction that the law is headed, particularly with regard to the numerous term extensions that have kept important works from falling into the public domain. Read the full article here.

By Editor at Large, Ttog, Stephan Baum (Self-published work by Editor at Large) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/… — By Editor at Large, Ttog, Stephan Baum (Self-published work by Editor at Large) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Reposted from The New Yorker.