Introduction

• Author: Lesley Ellen Harris
• Profession: Lawyer, author, and educator
• Pages: 17-18

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Introduction

If Glenn Gould were alive today, he would be celebrating his 80th birthday,

posting to his blog, releasing another podcast and  guring out how to license

downloads of his recordings.

—Kate Taylor, “The meaning of Glenn Gould,”

The Globe and Mail , September 22, 2012

Copyright a ects everyone. Anyone who has ever written a letter or

e-mail message, made a sketch, or taken a photograph (even with a

smartphone) is a creator of copyright material. And anyone who has

ever photocopied an article, dig itized an image, or downloaded a docu-

ment from the Internet is a user or consumer of copyright material

(assuming of course that these materials are protected by copyright).

Copyright law, however, is very complicated, and my purpose in

writing this book is to demystify it and set out its fundamental prin-

ciples in everyday language. This book is written for those who cre-

ate copyright materials, use copyright materials, acquire the rights to

content, and share and disseminate content. Its audience is the private

individual as well as those who work in institutions and organizations

across a broad range of  elds including culture, entertainment, educa-

tion, information, and computer software, whether for-pro t or non-

pro t organizations, and whether the use of content is for commercial,

noncommercial, or personal purposes. Many of us share the same expe-

rience in that the Internet and digital content and digital distribution

have made copyright everyone ’s business.

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