The publication of the second edition of ’s is a welcome event. The first edition of this book, published in 1997,was a lucid and concise account of the three main areas of intellectual property law: copyright, trademarks and patents. The book’s conciseness did not detract from its value. Professor Vaver’s experience and depth of knowledge of the subject matter, combined with his talent for expressing himself with clarity and simplicity all contributed to a slim book that spoke figurative volumes.

The second edition of Intellectual Property Law can hardly be described as concise – it has 833 pages compared to the 348 pages of the first edition. Yet there is nothing flabby about this account of the law. The reality is that intellectual property in this post-industrial age has undergone significant changes and expansion. Entire new fields of technology which seemed like science fiction in 1997 are standard fare today. Biotechnology, nanotechnology, digitization, the internet, and mobile communications – to name just a few – have all presented new and often difficult challenges for intellectual property law systems.  In addition the growing international dimensions of intellectual property law have also led to significant changes in law, policy and practice.  The universe of intellectual property has expanded, and with it has Professor Vaver’s book.

The new edition adopts a structure similar to the original. A general introduction to intellectual property law is followed by main sections covering copyright, patent and trademark law. There is also a substantial chapter on the management and enforcement of rights. Each topic is addressed in a systematic way; headings and subheadings are used to guide the reader through different key points. The structure is logical, and although it distills the main areas of intellectual property law to their essence, the book is not a bare and descriptive text.  Professor Vaver’s introduction speaks to the fundamental shifts and transformations in the field of intellectual property law. These include the pressure to expand intellectual property protection, the ongoing importance of intellectual property in the international trade arena, and the growing public engagement with IP issues. Professor Vaver makes his perspective clear here, and throughout the book. IP rights must be reconciled with other crucial social values:  “the right of people to imitate others, to work, compete, talk, and write freely, and to nurture common cultures” (page 14). For those who are new to the field of intellectual property law, it is important to understand how central Professor Vaver’s work has been to the maturing of intellectual property law as a serious academic field of study in Canada. Professor Vaver began his academic career in the early 1970’s in New Zealand before moving to the in the latter part of that decade.  In 1985 he arrived at , where he taught IP and IT law for many years, and began to develop a body of serious scholarship in this area. At the time, he was one of only a handful of IP scholars in Canada. For the most part, Canadian law schools offered a course in IP law, if at all, as a practitioner-taught “trade” course. Professor Vaver’s first edition of Intellectual Property Law, and the book which followed shortly thereafter, were important books for IP in Canada. These books made IP law accessible and engaging to a new generation of law students, and they were cornerstones for the maturing intellectual property law scholarship in Canada. Professor Vaver’s academic leadership in this field eventually resulted in his move to the in 1998, as Director of its .  In 2007 he transitioned to a new role as Emeritus Professor of Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law at the University of Oxford. He also returned to Osgoode Hall Law School to add his considerable academic weight to that school’s new centre for intellectual property studies, . As Justice Rothstein observes in his preface to the second edition of Intellectual Property Law, “David Vaver is in the very top rank of the most highly respected experts in the field of intellectual property law” (page xxv of Preface).

There could hardly be a better text for a Canadian student of IP law. The second edition of Intellectual Property Law is comprehensive without being overwhelming. The book addresses the full range of issues: from the elements of each main area of intellectual property law, to constitutional concerns, issues of territoriality, international treaties, first nations issues and areas for law reform. While some of these issues are touched upon only briefly, the book is intended as a starting point and not an end point. Each chapter concludes with suggestions for further readings and the footnotes throughout reference both case law and academic writing.

Yet this book is not just for law students. Judges and practitioners will find it a useful reference tool and will value it for its clarity, comprehensiveness and insight. In addition, the book will be of use to the growing number of individuals not trained in law whose lives are touched by intellectual property law, as creators, users, policy makers, or entrepreneurs.  As Vaver writes in his preface, “The aim is to make IP law and policy accessible to whoever wishes to know more about them, be they students, lawyers or members of the general public, particularly those who rely, whether they know it or not, on IP in their daily lives” (page xxvii of Preface). This goal seems to be fully realized. Although heavier to lift, the second edition has not lost its accessibility to a very wide range of readers with a very diverse set of interests in intellectual property law.

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’s , takes up where the first edition left off, providing a complete and informative review of intellectual property law in Canada. David Vaver is the Professor of IP Law at and a member of the .

In 1997, Vaver released the first edition, which was Canada’s first text that analyses all three of these fields in one volume. The first edition has been one of the most favoured texts on the subject, being a source of referral on Canadian intellectual property law by judges, policymakers, lawyers, academics and students both nationally and internationally. Given the fundamental changes seen in both domestic and international IP law over the last fifteen years, an updated version was in demand; the current edition not only takes into account these fundamental changes, but also embarks on the social, economic and technological environments in which intellectual property law operates. This text raises the bar previously set by the first edition, and will maintain its place as a cornerstone to the study of IP law in Canada.

The structure of the text is similar to its predecessor, but the contents are more in-depth, boasting a page count double that of the first. However, Vaver maintains the brief and non-technical language seen in the first edition, illustrating his main points in terms that are easy to comprehend for those that are new to the subject, yet detailed enough for those with a wealth of experience in the field. As noted by Justice Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada in the text’s foreword, “[h]is extensive expertise and experience in intellectual property law is made obvious by how he is able to reduce complex concepts to a coherent and readily understandable level” (page xxiv of Foreword). This separates Vaver’s text from many others in the field, as he approaches the subject in a manner that is more personable and easier to comprehend, balancing his insights and opinions on the state of the law with the key legal principles found in the subject areas.

The text opens with a Foreword written by Justice Marshall Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada, lauding the importance of intellectual property protection on the local and global stage, and praising Vaver’s discussions surrounding the current issues the subject faces today with the continual evolution of society. It is then divided into six chapters: an introduction outlining what IP is in Canada; a chapter each on copyright, patent and trade-mark law; one on management and enforcement of IP on both domestic and international levels; and, a conclusion outlining the current state of IP and how to address some of the current challenges facing the system in Canada and abroad. Vaver uses a mixture of primary and secondary sources throughout the text, referring to key jurisprudence and legislation that shapes the area of law, as well as texts and journal articles of his peers on the subject. Also, a list of further readings in both print and online form is provided for readers to learn about certain areas of the topic that may pique their interest. After the introductory chapter, a list of suggested blogs is made available by Vaver, thereby offering IP enthusiasts an avenue to receive up-to-date information on the state of the law on an almost instant basis. At the end of the text material is a glossary of key terms in the practice, showing once again that he has kept those new to the subject in mind in his draft. The book concludes with a Table of Cases and Index for reference to particular contents.

The introductory chapter tackles intellectual property as a whole in Canada. Vaver begins with an evolution of the state of the law in Canada, including mention of recent international influence on standardizing the subject globally. He then goes on to define the term "intellectual property", and justifies why it is treated differently from other forms of property as well as why it is so integral to today’s society and economy. Vaver introduces common features prominent in all forms of IP (territoriality, overlapping rights, and registration), as well as certain elements specific to IP in Canada (optional marking, Constitutional and Freedom of Expression issues). The introduction provides an all encompassing overview of the subject that serves as a springboard to the dialogue surrounding the specific areas of IP discussed in the subsequent chapters.

The next three chapters go on to discuss the specific areas of copyright, patents and trade-marks, respectively. For each subject, the chapter explores what is entitled to protection, criteria for protection, duration, owner and user rights, and title. Each chapter involves a mix of foundational jurisprudence and recent developments in the common law on both a national and international level. Vaver aims to compare and contrast the approaches taken in Canadian common law to those seen in other areas of the world, allowing readers a better understanding of what level of freedom and protection Canada provides with respect to its international counterparts.  Throughout, there is an underlying theme of streamlining each area to meet the standards expressed by IP international bodies such as WIPO, and thereby eliminate major discrepancies between countries IP users face today in the global market.

The copyright section is the lengthiest chapter in the text at over 200 pages, as it covers a diverse range of protected media with differing rights and durations. At the end of the chapter, Vaver focuses on the differences between free use and commercial use at the end of the chapter, setting out the immunities available to free users for specific uses of the copyrighted material. He also maintains an eye to the future of copyright law in Canada given the developments of the (WPT) and (WPPT), which were almost introduced in in June 2010. According to Vaver, even though Bill C-32 was not passed due to the fall of the Harper Government in March 2011, it “nevertheless indicates the direction of current government policy” (page 56).

The next chapter, patents, focuses on the rise of patents on an international level, with the US, Europe, Japan, Korea and China accounting for almost three-quarters of applications to the (PCT). Vaver goes on to state that in 2009, Canada granted a total of 200 patents to developing global players India and China, but he expects this to change in the future as both continue to invest more in new technology with the hope of joining their Western counterparts in prominence. Similar to the copyright section, he differentiates between free use of patents and paid use of patents through licensing, explaining why certain users are exempt from the restrictions of patent protection and why others are not.

The fourth chapter covers trade-marks, stating that they differ from other forms of IP, as they possess more of an ‘industrial’ element as oppose to ‘intellectual.’ Vaver also comments on the criticisms surrounding the and questions surrounding the constitutionality of certain provisions; he goes on to say that “trade-mark laws are not there to ‘hamper free trade,’ unreasonably restrict people’s rights of free expression, or just further and protect traders’ interests in their branding decisions and strategies, which benefit only them. The laws are there to further and protect the public interest in a healthy functioning marketplace, which benefits all” (page 428, emphasis added). He ends the chapter discussing user rights, making note of Canada’s reluctance to adopting a broad leeway to infringement exemption seen internationally, opting for the same limited range of permissible activities listed in the 1953 Act.

After discussing each area of IP, Professor Vaver once again discusses them in unison in the fifth chapter on Management and Enforcement. IP operates in a free market, with owners having the ability to assign, sell, license, or split up IP rights as they please. The system is set up to maintain a flexible structure to accommodate the evolution of society’s communication, development and production methods. However, the system is not without restrictions, as certain requirements must be met when dealing with transferability in the form of assignments or licences. In Canada, IP management is rather low-maintenance, with obligations to pay maintenance fees, renew periodically and record title in national IP registries being the main elements to consider; going abroad with IP is much more of a complex task, as management requirements vary globally, with complexity in international deals arising due to lack of cohesion. The chapter goes on to discuss enforcement of IP, outlining the role of the courts on both national and international grounds and what remedies right-holders are entitled to.

Vaver ends the text with, to his own admission, a conclusion that least differs from that of the first edition. He discusses the current state of IP law and why it exists in the form it does today. Then, he asserts some of the drawbacks of the system, stating that it is far too technical and complex, as “the results [IP laws] produce hardly square with the way many ordinary, law-abiding citizens think and act” (page 668). These technicalities are set out in the preceding pages, surrounding drafting standards, social control, first nations, acceptable uses, and those specific to the copyright, patent and trade-mark systems. The text ends with a section titled “Rethinking Intellectual Property,” where Vaver offers that a zero-budgeting system should be applied by governments to IP systems to examine how to best meet a balance between the users and owners of IP. He outlines a series of broad questions that must be answered to create a system of laws that has a “coherent moral centre that the public can comprehend and accept” (page 689). The conclusion shows that Canada’s IP system is far from perfect, and even though minor tweaks have made it better, starting from scratch and re-examining its desired goals will lead to a system that makes all those a part of it happy. Although this seems unrealistic and unlikely to happen, Vaver identifies that the problems do not lie in the peripheral elements, but the main structure itself.

As with its previous edition, Intellectual Property Law: Copyright, Patents, Trade-marks, 2nd ed. stands as a leading authority on intellectual property law in Canada. David Vaver offers a complete and concise overview of the topic that will be useful to anyone that works with or has an interest in IP law in language that eliminates the complexity and technicality seen in the subject. This current edition takes into account recent developments of the law in the last 15 years on both a national and international level, providing expanded analysis on topics previously covered, as well as discussion on new ones. The text exemplifies that, although the field of IP has no doubt improved through recent decisions, there is still a lot of opportunity for it to improve, offering insight into what future changes may lie ahead. The text already looks to be a key resource on the subject, as it has already been cited by Justice Rothstein in the May 2011 trade-marks decision of . 2011 SCC 27, .  The second edition deserves the high praise, recognition and relevance its predecessor has in the IP community.

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The Statute of Anne is often referred to in debates about copyright law and policy to suggest that copyright must be fundamentally rethought because society and technology have changed significantly since the days of the printing press.  What is not nearly as common is a collection of commentary which discusses the Statute of Anne within its broader historical context, extracting lessons that are fruitful for modern copyright policy and reform.

(edited by Professors Lionel Bently, Uma Suthersanen and Paul Torremans), is a book which accomplishes the uncommon and provides the reader with unique insights.

This book is a result of the ALAI 2009 London Congress, which leading copyright experts and scholars from across the globe attended in order to celebrate the 300th anniversary of The Statute of Anne.  The format of the book is one of multiple authors, each contributing one chapter to the book.  A quick glance at the list of contributors shows representation from Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Finland, France, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, UK, and the USA.  A broad range of perspectives are canvassed in the book by experts working in academia, copyright and patent offices, libraries, technology companies, book trade associations, and copyright collectives.

With 300 years to cover since the Statute of Anne, there are many topics that could be covered and it would be easy to get lost in the possibilities, but the book is well organized and divided into three main parts: Part I (The Statute of Anne and its role in the world of copyright), Part II (Digital libraries and online licensing), and Part III (The borderless era: international exhaustion, global administration and formalities).  Within 522 pages, key global copyright issues are covered in great detail.

Part I (Chapters 1 to 11) begins with the history of copyright and the Statute of Anne.  In the introduction to Part I, co-editor Professor Lionel Bently notes that the Statute of Anne is often characterized as the world’s first copyright Act, but he warns that this claim should be treated with caution.  He notes that the Statute of Anne wasn’t the world’s first regulation system for printing and publishing books.  Additionally, Bently reminds readers that while the Act was influential, there were significant contributions in other jurisdictions (both before and after the Act) to the worldwide development of copyright law.  This introduction sets the stage for the rest of the chapters in Part I, which outline historical research that provide insights that a strict legal analysis of contemporary legislation alone could not possibly uncover.

Part II (Chapters 12-21), starts the book’s coverage of the digital age.  Co-editor Professor Uma Suthersanen provides an introduction to digital libraries and online licensing.  As part of laying out some background thoughts for the Chapters in Part II, Suthersanen states that the zeitgeist of this and the coming centuries is that the growing power of custodians of information must be regulated (along with the power to grant access to works and to remunerate authors).  In Chapter 13, Dame Lynne J. Brindley succinctly summarizes many of the challenges that libraries now face, as they strive to rise (like the Phoenix) into new purveyors of knowledge in the Internet era.  Underpinning these strategic challenges for libraries are broader copyright, information management, cultural and public policy issues which are discussed and analyzed throughout the chapters in Part II.

Three specific themes are covered in Part III (Chapters 22-32), all relating to the “borderless era”: international exhaustion, global administration and formalities.  This third part of the book is introduced by co-editor Professor Paul Torremans, who stresses the fundamental and global nature of the issues addressed within these chapters.  Two differing perspectives on the potential benefits of copyright formalities in the digital era are offered in Chapter 29 (by Stef van Gompel) and Chapter 30 (by Jane Ginsburg). Various aspects of copyright exhaustion are covered in Chapters 23 to 27, and the contributors must be commended for providing in depth and valuable commentary on a topic that might have been treated very narrowly in the hands of others.

Global Copyright: Three Hundred Years Since the Statute of Anne, From 1709 to Cyberspace is a fascinating read and a rich reference resource.  Throughout the book, there are many cross-references to other chapters, as authors make note of intersecting discussions existing in the rest of the book.  Additional online supplementary materials for the book exist on the .  The website currently includes translations for several of the chapters into French and/or Spanish.  The website also hosts copies of expert responses (from 21 different jurisdictions) to a questionnaire that covered topics such as copyright history, on-line exploitation, international exhaustion, and formalities.

This book is ideal not only for legal scholars and students, but also for anyone with a desire to better understand the past, present and future challenges of copyright law and policy.

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I am a 2^nd year law student. I studied computer science before coming to law school. Naturally, as is the case with many other computer geeks, I am a true fan of open source software. The evolution of Linux and Firefox to what they are nowadays fascinates me. Obviously they would not have been what they are today, had it not been for the good will of the contributors, who voluntarily provided their codes.

As much as I adore open source software, it never occurred to me, that it may be rational to provide everything for free. To me it seemed that the open source software are what they are because there is a paid counterpart, which fuels the competition. I always wonder how far Linux would have gone, had Microsoft provided Windows Operating System and its source code for free? To me it seemed that a combination of free and paid counterparts would best foster creativity and innovation. This is, of course, slightly different than the , where the basic version of the software is provided for free and you have to pay to get the professional or advanced version, since both basic and professional version are provided by the same business. All this is said to give you an idea of my mindset when I started reading the book.

The book gives a history overview of successful businesses revolving around free products and services (such as Google). According to Anderson, it is possible to make lots of money and yet charge nothing if there is a free unlimited shelf space, which would accommodate an infinite number of choices. The Internet, by providing this infinite space, creates a highly competitive market. Thus, it has revolutionized the economy. To Anderson, free is not yet another option, it is the ultimate endpoint; he argues that it is possible to give away things and services for free because as technology advances production costs approach zero.

To Anderson the 20^th century's economy is different than the 21^st. The former, as Anderson states, is the "atoms economy" where things get more expensive over time and the latter is "bits economy", which refers to the online world where things get cheaper as time passes.

The first few chapters of the book, points out what most of us know already, about the ways you can make profit from free goods or services: giving away free samples, the Freemium business model, providing something for free in order to sell another thing, or by having a third party pay your costs. An example of the last form is what the publishing industry does. According to Anderson, the industry can make profit by providing free online newspapers/magazines because the advertisement pays more than the cost of production and online distribution of papers. Although, arguably, as this business strategy may not be quite profitable. For instance, James Moorney, the publisher of the Dallas Morning News stated that in order to license the content of his newspaper to the Kindle, Amazon's electronic reader, Amazon asked for 70% of the subscription revenue and the right to republish the intellectual property content to any portable device. In such a case, that the provider of the electronic reader would earn more than the provider of the expensive content.

Anderson also considers consumer psychology when choosing products. According to him, the cognitive load of having to process information affects what you choose to buy. Due to our laziness, we tend to choose things that require least thinking. Thus as Anderson argues, people will choose the free available option since when something is free you don't have to ask yourself "is this thing really worth the price?" To me it seems that Anderson fails to also include that you will choose the free option when there is a paid counterpart. However, in a scenario where everything is free then the question "is this thing worth the price?" is replaced by "is this thing worth my time?" Thus, the free economy Anderson proposes may now revolve around something else like reputation - businesses with better reputations will continue to make money and the new businesses with no reputation at all will, arguably, suffer unless they are providing something significantly better. This may be discouraging to many and thus may hinder both innovation and creativity. After all, as Anderson points out, at the end of the day there are bills to pay.

However, to Anderson, economy revolving around attention and reputation does not seem to be a threat to new businesses. He argues that, in such an economy, people will continue to provide services for free because being creative and giving away things for free makes them happy, sometimes even happier than their paid jobs.

Anderson also talks about how Internet, by allowing cheap distribution of information has revolutionized the economy. By considering Google's business model, Anderson proposes that any 21^st century business should follow Google's strategy, e.g. hand out many things for free and get paid for a few. According to Anderson, Google owes its success to combination of mass distribution of free services and paid advertisement, where advertisers create customized ads matching keywords and content and bid for the most prominent positions.

Anderson has been criticized for his reliance on Google's business strategy. Google provides an example "why free does not work"; Google's YouTube is a total money loser and Google has yet to explain how its new operating system is to generate profit. To me it seems too early to decide whether Google's strategy has been a total failure or success. Although I believe, in general, Google's success depends on the amount of free information available on the web, since more available data means better search results and more places to put advertisements, which, arguably, leads to more money from the advertisements. Although, video monetization is different from adding advertisements beside search results since, arguably, advertisers would want to be associated with popular videos. Thus more videos do not necessarily mean more money.

Furthermore, Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, that continuing to focus on free is a big mistake that growing internet companies make. "When you succeed with Free, you are going to die by Free," writes Cuban.

To further support his statement that we are moving towards the free economy, Anderson considers the media industry - how radio and television provide free or cheaper content to consumers by charging for advertisements. He points to the success of the gaming industry and Radiohead in providing certain content for free in the online world. He also considers free online books and states that as long as people want to read the books in the physical form, or "atom forms" as he calls it, they will continue to pay for it. However, I wonder how long people would continue to want to read physical books?! It is hard to compete with free, after all.

Anderson provides six reasons (borrowed from the entertainment lawyer Jonathan Handel) for the evolution to a free economy:

• Supply and demand: Due to Internet, supply is much greater than demand.
• Loss of physical form: It does not feel like stealing when you are stealing something intangible.
• Ease of access: Downloading something is easier than going to the store and buying the thing.
• The shift to ad-supported content: when things are free online what should be free in real life?
• The tech industry wants content to be free: Free content means you have to buy more products to host that content - e.g. Apple wants music to be free so sell more iPods.
• Generation Free: To the younger generation copyright seems irrelevant.

Anderson also talks about piracy in China's market. To him, it seems impossible to fight piracy. Thus, he proposes to embrace it. He argues that piracy can be beneficial to the music industry because through piracy more people will be exposed to an artist's works, and the artist can in turn make profit through personal appearances, product endorsement, concert tours, and/or charging for cell phone ring tones. Furthermore, he argues that piracy can be good for any business. According to him the fake goods that are sold in China, increase Chinese exposure to Western brands and fashion and thus in turn when people have the money to buy the real thing, they will buy it because the real thing has better quality.

Although Anderson states that free is the ultimate end point, he does say that he favours a variation of the Freemium business model because it can accommodate varying psychologies of a range of consumers. For instance, according to him, you may not have time to download music, yet you may have enough money to buy the music and you would prefer buying it.

Overall the book was an interesting read although repetitive at times and a bit one sided; throughout the book, Anderson tried to show that free will be the future because this business model worked in the past. To me, this argument does not have much merit. There are too many variables that need to be considered, each of which could contribute to the success of the free business model, and we cannot simply assume that they remain constant over time (parameters such as, economical status/situation, consumer's financial status, consumer's psychology, existence of paid counterparts, etc.). Although Anderson does not assume that these variables remain constant, he did not address the effect of their change.

Cory Doctorow, science fiction author and co-editor of the blog Boing Boing, also has stating: "to discuss "free" without taking note of the ways in which it both challenges and reinforces non-market ways of living just as much as it does for market-driven ones is to only tell half the story".

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