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Books and Arts

Nature 457, 264-265 (15 January 2009) | doi:10.1038/457264a; Published online 14 January 2009

Open Innovation Challenges

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How to end the copyright wars

Jonathan Zittrain1

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A high-profile copyright activist is fighting for traditional publishers to stop criminalizing their own readers, explains Jonathan Zittrain.

BOOK REVIEWEDRemix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy

by Lawrence Lessig

Penguin: 2008. 352 pp. £25.95

By its own account, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has threatened thousands of people — many of them teenagers — with lawsuits for sharing copies of copyrighted music without permission. Most individuals pay several thousand dollars to settle out of court.