How Law Works

This book chronicles developments in legal practice, intellectual property, and privacy law from the dawn of the digital age to today's world of social media and cloud technologies. Part autobiography, part legal history, and part philosophy of law, the volume explores the nature of legal reasoning, property, privacy, and personal identity. Hemnes weaves these large issues into meticulously researched analysis of the legal protection for computer software, the mechanics of software licensing, trademark protection and the use of intellectual property as collateral. Hemnes also considers how and why the promise of the early digital age in the 20th century declined into the rampant factionalism, nationalism, and terrorism of the early 21st century. 

An indispensable resource for anyone studying the emergence of intellectual property rights as a cornerstone of the modern economy, this book also serves as a foundational reference tool for professors, students, and practitioners of intellectual property. The breadth and value of information contained within its pages, from the very basics of computer software protection to the intricacies of negotiation strategy for indemnification clauses, warrants a place on the library shelves of every practitioner of intellectual property and privacy law and on the reading list of every intellectual property, privacy and jurisprudence course.