Lawrence Lessig, the Stanford University law professor whose writings have profoundly influenced the way people think about intellectual property in the digital age, announced a year ago that he’d had enough of advocating for the reform of copyright law and would devote his energies to fighting corruption and the influence of money on American politics.
Turns out he has more to say on the subject for which he’s best known. This fall he’s coming out with his latest book, Remix, which argues that the legal system is making criminals out of young people who produce entertaining or informative videos, music, and other art works through piecing together parts of others’ works. He advocates a new type of economy that allows both market competition and people to freely share their art.
In the above 20-minute video Mr. Lessig talks at the 2007 Technology, Entertainment, Design conference about the themes expounded in his book.—Andrea L. Foster
