Book Review: Digital Copyright by Simon Stokes

The IPtango has received a review copy of Simon Stokes’ Digital Copyright Law and Practice. Simon Stokes is a solicitor and a partner with Blake Lapthorn and he is a visiting research fellow at Bournemouth Law School, UK.

The fourth edition is published by Hart Publishing in 2014 and is up-to-date to June 2013.
The edition covers issues such as the Google Library Project (i.e. scanning material into this searchable database); collaborative and jointly authorship (e.g. Wikipedia); digital images; linking; Open Access; e-books; and apps; among other. Good to see in the book was a Chapter dedicated to Moral Rights. The author asserts that this is new in UK law and yet he manages to bring the principles into the digital environment in a very clear way.

The book is mainly establishing the UK position but sometimes goes further as to look at the US experience. Yet, the book is a fine read for the Latin America audiences since it brings and gives a clear understanding of the policies surrounding this modern issue i.e. digital content.

Here is what the Hart Publishing editorial has to say:

The first edition of this book in 2002 was the first UK text to examine digital copyright together with related areas such as performers' rights, moral rights, database rights and competition law as a subject in its own right. Updated editions have included the UK implementation of the 2001 Information Society Directive and commentary on user-generated content and the development of Web 2.0 and beyond. Now in its fourth edition, the book has been updated and revised to take account of legal and policy developments in copyright law and related areas, in particular the increasing role of the Court of Justice of the European Union in shaping EU copyright law.

The book helps put digital copyright law and policy into perspective and provides practical guidance for those creating or exploiting digital content or technology, whether in academia, the software, information, publishing and creative industries, and other areas of the economy. The focus is on the specifics of the law in this area together with practical aspects, including precedents and precedent checklists dealing with common digital copyright transactions. The latest edition has been expanded to include a discussion of Open Access, eBooks and app development and licensing. Both academics and practitioners will find the book an invaluable guide to this rapidly developing field of law.

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For more information here.
To order a hardcopy here (EU) and here (US).
Electronic publication available from March through the Hart Publishing website.