Review by Peter Davison,
for The Atlantic Monthly (December 2000)
Not since Benjamin Kaplan's magisterial and prophetic An Unhurried View of Copyright, published in 1967, has anyone written so lucid and entertaining a book about this nearly deadly but intrinsically fascinating subject. Oceans of water have flowed under the narrow bridge of copyright since 1967, and Edward Samuels, a professor at New York Law School, manages to convey in words and pictures all that any layman needs to know about the theory and practice of copyright, along with the latest in technology and the oddest of anecdotes. His book should find a place on the desk of every publisher (online or offline) and also on those of songwriters, illustrators, art directors, and computer hackers.