Like Lawrence Lessig and other critics of the current copyright regime, Mr. Patry attacks media companies for exaggerating their problems with piracy, then goes on to engage in hyperbole better suited to blog posts than books. This is a shame, since How to Fix Copyright is full of smart, sensible ideas. Mr. Patry argues that different kinds of work should get different kinds of protection. He suggests that creators be required to register their copyrights after a certain amount of time in order to maintain them—a good idea, given that under current law even works as minor as family photos receive automatic legal protection. At the same time, he recommends a "use-it-or-lose-it" provision under which rights to out-of-print works would revert to their creators. These ideas, as well others he explores, would greatly improve a system that even many proponents agree has expanded well beyond its intended purpose.

Unfortunately, Mr. Patry dances around the thorniest problem with copyright laws: the fact that some Internet companies see them as suggestions rather than statutes and build businesses based largely on infringement. Rhetoric aside, much of the debate over copyright online has less to do with what's legal than with who has liability for what isn't. Companies from Google to Grooveshark rail against any law that would require them to take responsibility for the way their businesses are run. Meanwhile, copyright-holders—as record labels learned the hard way—face a high cost in money and bad publicity if they try to sue individual consumers. And while technology companies have been outspoken in condemning SOPA for going too far, they aren't suggesting workable alternatives—at least partly because it is not in their interest to do so. . . .

To some extent, the success of Mr. Patry's arguments rest on whether one believes creative people can be motivated by copyright—or any kind of financial gain. Like most copyright critics, he is skeptical. (Perhaps Mr. Patry hasn't been listening, but many rappers certainly seem to like getting paid.) Of course, like most such critics, Mr. Patry has a day job—at a company that would stand to profit if his ideas took hold. That doesn't make them bad ideas. But one reason we need a copyright system—a reformed, more effective one—is so writing books like this isn't limited to those with that kind of financial stake in the outcome.