Read Copyright Unbalanced: From Incentive to Excess for Free Online

Acknowledgments
     
    T HIS COLLECTION OF essays is something I have wanted to produce since Adam Thierer and Wayne Crews published Copy Fights ten years ago. Helping to put that volume together, I saw firsthand how divisive the issue of copyright can be among libertarians and conservatives. The way I saw it, though, there was much on which we could all agree if we took a practical view of copyright grounded in public choice. This book is an attempt to begin to forge a new pragmatic consensus.
    I, therefore, have to first thank Adam Thierer for his mentorship and inspiration over all these years. He does not share my optimism that a consensus can be reached, but that has made him an invaluable sounding board who has helped sharpen my thinking on the issue. For that, I’m very grateful.
    My sincerest thanks also go to the contributors: Reihan Salam, Patrick Ruffini, David Post, Tim Lee, Christina Mulligan, Eli Dourado, and Tom Bell. If there ever was a dream team of “cyber libertarian” thinkers on copyright, this is it. I am very lucky to have been able to assemble them here. Special thanks go to Eli Dourado, who, as an office neighbor and frequent lunch partner, has greatly influenced my thinking on copyright and other issues.
    This book would have not been possible without the hard work of some of the amazing folks at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University with whom I have the privilege of working. Chief among these is James Broughel, whose eternal patience while managing the logistics of this project are sincerely appreciated by me and all the contributors. Garrett Brown and Emma Elliott have made book projects like this one not just a reality, but a pleasure, and for that I am grateful. Thanks also go to Ted Bolema, whose common sense editing was invaluable. And finally thanks to Kate Martin and Taylor Barkley without whose hard work Adam, Eli, and I would merely be talking to ourselves.
    I’d like to thank Jim Harper for his encouragement and support as well as comments on an early draft, Ryan Radia for always thoughtful critiques, Dan Rothschild for helpful comments, and my wonderful wife, Kathleen O’Hearn, for her unending love and cheer, which make everything worthwhile.
    Arlington, Virginia, October 2012

About the Editor
     
    JERRY BRITO is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the director of its Technology Policy Program. He also serves as adjunct professor of law at Mason. His research focuses on technology and telecommunications policy, government transparency and accountability, and the regulatory process. He has written for both online and print publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Reason, Wired.com, Ars Technica, and the Atlantic. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife, Kathleen O’Hearn.

About the Contributors
     
    TOM W. BELL is a professor at Chapman University School of Law and an adjunct fellow of the Cato Institute. His writings include Intellectual Privilege: Copyright, Common Law, and the Common Good (Mercatus Center at George Mason University, forthcoming); Regulators’ Revenge: The Future of Telecommunications Deregulation (Cato Institute), which he edited with Solveig Singleton; and many papers and articles. After earning a JD from the University of Chicago, Bell practiced law in Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. He began teaching in 1995, took a year’s leave of absence to serve as the Cato Institute’s director of telecommunications and technology studies, and joined Chapman University School of Law in 1998. Bell and his family live in San Clemente, California.
    ELI DOURADO is a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University with the Technology Policy Program, and a PhD candidate in the Department of Economics at Mason. His research focuses on the economics and political economy of technology. Before joining Mercatus, Dourado worked at the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the US