From Maimonides to Microsoft

The Jewish Law of Copyright Since the Birth of Print

Neil Weinstock Netanel and Notes by David Nimmer

Traces the development of Jewish copyright law by relaying the stories of five dramatic disputes, running from the sixteenth century to the present
Describes each dispute in its historical context and examines the rabbinic rulings that sought to resolve it
Introduces copyright scholars, students, and practitioners to an entirely new narrative and body of copyright jurisprudence
Includes new material regarding the operation of the Jewish book trade and some of the leading disputes affecting it
Compares Jewish copyright law with its Anglo-American and Continental European counterparts
Also of interest to students of Jewish law, Jewish history, and publishing

From Maimonides to Microsoft

The Jewish Law of Copyright Since the Birth of Print

Neil Weinstock Netanel and Notes by David Nimmer

Description

Jewish copyright law is a rich body of copyright doctrine and jurisprudence that developed in parallel with Anglo-American and Continental European copyright laws and the printers' privileges that preceded them. Jewish copyright law traces its origins to a dispute adjudicated in 1550, over 150 years before modern copyright law is typically said to have emerged with the Statute of Anne of 1709. It continues to be applied today, notably in a rabbinic ruling outlawing pirated software, issued at Microsoft's request.

In From Maimonides to Microsoft, Professors Netanel and Nimmer trace the development of Jewish copyright law by relaying the stories of five dramatic disputes, running from the sixteenth century to the present. They describe each dispute in its historical context and examine the rabbinic rulings that sought to resolve it. Remarkably, these disputes address some of the same issues that animate copyright jurisprudence today: Is copyright a property right or a limited regulatory prerogative? What is copyright's rationale? What is its scope? How can copyright be enforced against an infringer who is beyond the applicable legal authority's reach?

This book introduces copyright scholars, students, and practitioners to an entirely new narrative and body of copyright jurisprudence. Presenting new material regarding the operation of the Jewish book trade and some of the leading disputes affecting it, Professors Netanel and Nimmer examine how copyright disputes arose from their respective historical contexts and, in turn, reverberated through Jewish life. From Maimonides to Microsoft examines how one area of Jewish law has developed in historical context and how Jewish copyright law compares with its Anglo-American and Continental European counterparts.

From Maimonides to Microsoft

The Jewish Law of Copyright Since the Birth of Print

Neil Weinstock Netanel and Notes by David Nimmer

Preface
Note Regarding Translation and Transliteration
1 Introduction: Microsoft in Bnei Brak
2 From Privileges and Printers' Guilds to Copyright
3 Rabbinic Reprinting Bans: Between Ktav Da'at and Privilege
4 Maharam of Padua versus Giustiniani: Rival Editions of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah

5 Rabbinic Reprinting Bans Take Hold
6 From a Yiddish Bible to a German Prayer Book
7 Internecine Battles and the Slavuta Talmud
8 Moving Beyond Reprinting Bans: From Property to the Law of the Sovereign
9 The Present-Day Debate: Is Copyright Infringement "Stealing"?
Bibliography
Glossary
Index

From Maimonides to Microsoft

The Jewish Law of Copyright Since the Birth of Print

Neil Weinstock Netanel and Notes by David Nimmer

Author Information

Neil Weinstock Netanel, Pete Kameron Endowed Chair in Law, UCLA School of Law, and Notes by David Nimmer, Of Counsel to Irell & Manella LLP; Professor from Practice, UCLA School of Law

Neil Weinstock Netanel is the Pete Kameron Endowed Chair in Law at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law where he writes and teaches in the areas of copyright, international intellectual property, and media and telecommunications. Prior to joining UCLA, Netanel served for a decade on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, where he was the Arnold, White & Durkee Centennial Professor of Law. He has also taught at the law schools of Harvard University, Haifa University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv University, the University of Toronto, and New York University. He authored Copyright's Paradox (Oxford, 2008; Paperback, 2010); and he edited The Development Agenda: Global Intellectual Property and Developing Countries (Oxford, 2008).

David Nimmer is a Professor from Practice at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law, and Of Counsel to the law firm of Irell & Manella. Since 1985, Professor Nimmer has updated and revised Nimmer on Copyright, the standard reference treatise in the field, regularly relied upon as an authority by courts and commentators the world over. He is also the author of Copyright: Sacred Text, Technology and the DMCA (2003).

From Maimonides to Microsoft

The Jewish Law of Copyright Since the Birth of Print

Neil Weinstock Netanel and Notes by David Nimmer

Reviews and Awards

"Neil Netanel's From Maimonides to Microsoft takes us on an exciting journey from the beginnings of Jewish legal experts' coping with copyright issues, a few decades after the birth of print, to nineteenth-century European Humanism. ... of great interest not only to the legal expert but also to the historian of Judaism." - George Y. Kohler, The Journal of Law and Religion

"[Netanel's book] is highly recommended and should be a crucial resource for anyone interested in rabbinic law and its European context, in addition to those more specifically interested in the 'evolution' (Netanels term) of Jewish law regarding intellectual property." - Gabriel Levy, International Review for the History of Religion

"It is highly recommended and should be a crucial resource for anyone interested in rabbinic law and its European context, in addition to those more specifically interested in the "evolution" (Netanel's term) of Jewish law regarding intellectual property." - Gabriel Levy, Numen

"To say that Netanel's book is a work of substantial historical scholarship is an understatement... This is an excellent and enjoyable read, and it is proof that scholarship and pleasure can go hand in hand." - Jeremy Phillips, IPKat

"From Maimonides to Microsoft is a meticulously researched and artfully presented account of the history of copyright law as it has developed under the watchful eyes of rabbinic authority. Netanel's treatment, which continually underscores the importance of historical circumstances and environmental context, is undoubtedly useful to copyright and comparative-law scholars. But it is foremost a contribution to our understanding of halakhah, both in theory and practice. Netanel is to be commended for mining a rich yet largely unexplored vein in Jewish law. Both Netanel's efforts and those of the rabbis he writes about are sure to increase in value." - Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, Commentary Magazine

"This reviewer came away enriched from Netanel's discussion, both in terms of the historical narrative presented and the analysis of 'copyright' in a comparative law context. Readers are urged to have their encounter with Netanel's text; you will not be disappointed." - Neil Wilkof, The Trademark Reporter