ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by understanding the changes that copyright law has undergone. There are five dimensions. First, duration: Disney builds its empire on top of the public domain because the culture in the public domain was free to take. It was free to take because copyrights expire, and when they expire, the work passes into a public domain. Second, copyright's scope: In 1790, copyright reached maps, charts and books. Its protection extended to someone's effort to republish maps, charts and books. Automatically, copyright law regulates essentially any creative work reduced to a tangible form. Third is a change in reach: Copyright law regulates copies. Fourth is a change in the force of its regulation: Before the net, the law regulated through the courts. And fifth, is a change in the concentration of media: Copyright law was originally structured the way it was in order to limit the scope of media monopoly.
