A valuable deep dive into unpublished works

Abstract

As its title suggests, this book is about unpublished works in the realm of common-law copyright. Its aim is to consider whether the often stouter and longer protection enjoyed by unpublished works is justified; it looks at that question through a variety of prisms, including historical, normative and legal. Its specific geographical focus is on unpublished works in the UK but it also casts a net to other common-law jurisdictions. Dr Masiyakurima, in my view, does a dexterous analytical job with his topic which, at first blush, seemed rather narrow to me but, after reading his treatment, clearly touches on an array of important themes in copyright, including, of course, the real meaning of ‘publication’ in our current era, but also pulling in such difficult issues as orphan works. It also raises important questions in legal spaces other than copyright, such as privacy law, and the author’s discursive style permits...