Political Sciences Prof. Blayne Haggart has received a grant from the Council for Research in the Social Sciences (CRISS) to publish his first book.

Called “Copyfight: The Politics of Global Digital Copyright Reform” the book is the first complete account of the increasingly contentious global politics of copyright policymaking. It offers a clear look at whether individuals around the world can shape a law that will affect creativity, freedom of speech and economic innovation in the 21st century.

The book follows the path of copyright reform from treaty negotiation to implementation from the perspective of three countries: the United States, the global copyright superpower; Canada, a middle power; and Mexico, a developing country.

Based on extensive interviews with policymakers and experts in the three countries, Copyfight argues that even small countries can set their own course on copyright legislation.

Rising public interest in copyright and the involvement of new players from the telecommunications sector also have the potential to move global copyright debates, even in the United States, away from its current trajectory of ever-increasing copyright protection.