Since the birth of criminal copyright in the nineteenth century, the copyright system has blurred the distinction between civil and criminal infringements. Today, in many jurisdictions, infringement of copyrighted materials can result in punitive fines and even incarceration. In this illuminating book, Eldar Haber analyzes the circumstances, justifications, and ramifications of the criminalization process and tells the story of how a legal right in the private enforcement realm has become over-criminalized. He traces the origins of criminal copyright legislation and follows the movement of copyright criminalization and enforcement on local and global scales. This important work should be read by anyone concerned with the future of copyright and intellectual property in the digital era.
