About this item
In the decade and a half since Napster first emerged, forever changing the face of digital culture, the claim that internet pirates killed the music industry has become so ubiquitous that it is treated as common knowledge. Piracy is a scourge on legitimate businesses and hard-working artists, we are told, a cybercrime similar to identity fraud or even terrorism. In The Piracy Crusade, Aram Sinnreich critiques the notion of piracy as a myth perpetuated by todays cultural cartelsthe handful of companies that dominate the film, software, and especially music industries. As digital networks have permeated our social environment, they have offered vast numbers of people the opportunity to experiment with innovative cultural and entrepreneurial ideas predicated on the belief that information should be shared widely.
About the Author
Dr. Aram Sinnreich is an Associate Professor at American University's School of Communication, and chair of the Communication Studies division. Sinnreich's work focuses on the intersection of culture, law and technology, with an emphasis on subjects such as emerging media and music. He is the author of three books, Mashed Up (2010) , The Piracy Crusade (2013) , and The Essential Guide to Intellectual Property (2019) , and has written for publications including the New York Times, Billboard, The Daily Beast, and Wired.Prior to coming to AU, Sinnreich served as Assistant Professor at Rutgers University's School of Communication and Information, Director at media innovation lab OMD Ignition Factory, Managing Partner of media/tech consultancy Radar Research, Visiting Professor at NYU Steinhardt, and Senior Analyst at Jupiter Research. He is also a bassist and composer, and has played with groups and artists including progressive soul collective Brave New Girl, dub-and-bass band Dubistry, punk chanteuse Vivien Goldman, and Ari-Up, lead singer of the Slits. Along with co-authors Dunia Best and Todd Nocera, Sinnreich was a finalist in the 2014 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, in the jazz category.Sinnreich holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Southern California, and a masters in Journalism from Columbia University.More of Sinnreich's publications and creative work can be found at www.sinnreich.com.
