Free the Media

Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity, by Lawrence Lessig (Penguin, 368 pp., $24.95) james v. Delong

The motion-picture and video industries employ over a quarter-million people and collect $55 billion in annual revenue. Book sales last year were $27 billion, based on 150,000 new titles and editions (up from 100,000 in 1992) and over 4 million books already in print. Also in 2003, the sound-recording industry shipped 798 million units with a value of $11.9 billion—down from the 1999 high of 1.16 billion units worth almost $14.6 billion, but still a big number, and one that does not include downloads for Apple’s iPod or other legitimate services. One can drown in the oceans of data proving the vitality of America’s creative spirit: Tens of thousands of people are working to carve a niche in the world of arts and entertainment, and millions of others are paying them for doing so. But in the new book Free Culture, Lawrence Lessig tries to say it’s an illusion. Lessig, however, likes stories rather than data, so such numbers would have little place in his book anyway.

About the Author

James V. DeLong

James V. DeLong is senior fellow, project on technology and innovation, for the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

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Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity, by Lawrence Lessig (Penguin, 368 pp., $24.95) james v. Delong

The motion-picture and video industries employ over a quarter-million people and collect $55 billion in annual revenue. Book sales last year were $27 billion, based on 150,000 new titles and editions (up from 100,000 in 1992) and over 4 million books already in print. Also in 2003, the sound-recording industry shipped 798 million units with a value of $11.9 billion—down from the 1999 high of 1.16 billion units worth almost $14.6 billion, but still a big number, and one that does not include downloads for Apple’s iPod or other legitimate services. One can drown in the oceans of data proving the vitality of America’s creative spirit: Tens of thousands of people are working to carve a niche in the world of arts and entertainment, and millions of others are paying them for doing so. But in the new book Free Culture, Lawrence Lessig tries to say it’s an illusion. Lessig, however, likes stories rather than data, so such numbers would have little place in his book anyway.