New Books: Intellectual Property Law

This introduction to music law is a compact guide to the legal issues that arise in all corners of the music industry, with particular emphasis on the decisions faced by songwriters and performing artists throughout their careers. The book covers all relevant aspects of copyright law, such as authorship, termination rights, re-recording rights, infringement, and fair use. It gives detailed attention to the roles of publishers, rights administrators, record labels, PROs, SoundExchange, and the new Mechanical Licensing Collective, and explains the array of contracts that are crucial to music exploitation, including publishing agreements, recording contracts, mechanical licenses, synchronization licenses, public performance licenses, and master recording licenses. The complex licensing scheme that applies to streaming platforms is explained in a user-friendly manner. Key aspects of trademark law are considered, including the ownership of band names. The book also explores an artist's right to prevent the misappropriation of his or her personal identity, including name, likeness, and voice, and addresses topical issues and legislative developments related to artificial intelligence, postmortem rights, and digital replicas. Where the assertion of intellectual property rights threatens artistic freedom, First Amendment protection for creative expression receives thorough attention.

The story of the commercialization of biology by a pioneer in biotechnology patenting Shortly after the emergence of genetic engineering in the 1970s, academic biologists were courted by venture capitalists and multinational companies. Researchers who understood the new biology of the time went from being merely curious about how the natural world functioned to realizing that they could profit from their newfound recognition. As they were inventing all sorts of newfangled organisms, biologists became acquainted with intellectual property. Patenting Life provides insights into legal fights over patented microbes, virus-resistant crops, ownership of body parts, and the patents they engendered. Covering the early days of recombinant DNA science to the present, Goldstein shares cases from his own career and those of others involving blockbuster biological drugs, aseptic mosquitoes, genetically engineered cows, and CRISPR, the modern gene-editing technology that promises to vanquish congenital diseases such as sickle cell anemia. He also addresses the perceived downsides of the patent system: the high prices of drugs, international access to COVID-19 vaccines and other medicines, and the ascent of genetically modified crops. Patenting Life will appeal to readers interested in science and technology and also those interested in laws promoting innovation.