Are You Downloading Coyprighted Stuff? Stealing or Fair Use

Reviewed by: Bernie Alie - Kennebunk Free Library, Kennebunk ME, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 12, 2015

Review

2014 update of the 2005 title, "Downloading Copyrighted Stuff from the Internet: Stealing or Fair Use?" Copyright issues are discussed in the context of downloading music. Piracy, free speech and fair use are addressed. Although facts and statistics in the text are written in the present tense, supporting documentation reveal most sources to be 11 years old or older. Online file sharing is equated with "dubbing a cassette" (p.56), technology that will be unfamiliar to today's teens. Although readers are warned that they may be sharing information that they did not intend to share and there is mention of military use of peer-to-peer technology, there is no mention of the surveillance and privacy issues revealed by Edward Snowden. Indeed, there is no index listing for privacy, Snowden, National Security Agency or NSA. Amazon, Kindle and ereaders are also missing. Stock photos depict laptops, desktops and phones, but no tablets. Copyright issues are important for young researchers to understand. However, this is not the title to assist them. Not recommended.

Overall Book Score: poor