Money is a legal institution with principal economic and sociological consequences. Money is a debt, because that is how it is conceptualised and comes into existence: as circulating credit - if viewed from the creditor's perspective - or, from the debtor's viewpoint, as debt. This book presents a legal theory of money, based on the concept of dematerialised property. It describes the money creation or money supply process for cash and for bank money, and looks at modern forms of money, such as cryptocurrencies. It also shows why mainstream economics presupposes, but avoids an analysis of, money by effectively eliminating money from the microeconomic market model and declaring it as merely a neutral medium of exchange and unit of account. The book explains that money rather brings about and influences substantially the exchange or transaction it is supposed to facilitate only as a neutral medium. As the most liquid of all assets, money enables financialisation, monetisation and commodification in the economy. The central role of the banks in the money creation process and in the economy, and their strengthened position after the bank rescue measures in the wake of the financial crisis 2008-9 are also discussed. Providing a rigorous analysis of the most salient legal issues regarding money, this book will appeal to legal theorists, economists and anyone working in commercial or banking law.

I've long known that musicians understand copyright law as little as copyright lawyers understand music, but this book shows brilliantly that such mutual ignorance is deeply rooted in historical, philosophical and practical arguments about music making. In persuading both musicologists and legal theorists to address issues of authorship, creativity, property and performance, Andreas Rahmatian has put together a collection that is essential reading for anyone concerned with the uneasy relationship of music and law. This is a sophisticated, instructive and stimulating book.' - Simon Frith, University of Edinburgh, UK'Rahmatian's edited collection in ''Concepts of Music and Copyright' is provoking and revelatory. It is an elegant colloquy between four musicologists and four lawyers. The resultant discourse reveals a rich seam of amazing stories and judicial decisions on authorship, creativity and the law in the sphere of musical composition and performance. The book is not only for music scholars and copyright lawyers, but is ideal for any scholar who professes to enjoy socio-legal philosophy, music lore, or the history of ideas. Needless to add, it is a must-have for copyright judges.' - Uma Suthersanen, University of London, UK 'This collection considers the blurred lines between copyright law and music - from early musicology to the Golden Age of MTV and the rise of YouTube and mash-ups. It explores key concepts such as copyright works, subject matter, authorship, originality, copyright infringement, safe harbours, and takedown notices. This collection also examines the clash between legal theories of music, and perceptions of copyright law in musical communities.' - Matthew Rimmer, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia Copyright specialists have often focused on the exploitation of copyright of music and on infringement, but not on the question of how copyright conceptualises music. This highly topical volume brings together specialists in music, musicology and copyright law, providing a genuinely interdisciplinary research approach. It compares and contrasts the concepts of copyright law with those of music and musical performance. Several tensions emerge between the ideas of music as a living art and of the musical work as a basis for copyright protection. The expert contributors discuss the notions of the musical work, performance, originality, authorship in music and in copyright, and co-ownership from the disciplinary perspectives of music, musicology and copyright law. The book also examines the role of the Musicians' Union in the evolution of performers' rights in UK copyright law, and, in an empirical study, the transaction costs theory for notice-and-takedown regimes in relation to songs uploaded on YouTube. This unique study offers an interdisciplinary perspective for academics, policymakers and legal practitioners seeking a state-of-the-art understanding of music and copyright law. Contributors: J. Butt, M. Parker Dixon, A. Firth, P.J. Heald, B. Heile, A. Rahmatian, C. Waelde, J. Williamson

Copyright and Creativity discusses the making of property out of creative works through the legal mechanism of copyright. It shows the manner in which the law translates a great variety of expressions of the human mind into its normative system and transforms them into the property right of copyright or droit d auteur. This timely book examines the proprietary features of copyright, the inherent limitations of its powers, and its justification and relationship to the non-proprietary realm of the public domain. The latter part of the book deals with the 'propertisation/commodification' of human authors themselves through their works as alienable objects of property, the well-known 'Romantic author' critique as a sophisticated justification of that commodification, and at an international level, neo-feudal and neo-colonial developments as a result of this process. This detailed study will appeal to undergraduate and postgraduate students, legal sociologists, and specialists in copyright, property theory, or legal theory and political philosophy with particular interest in property theory. Practitioners within bodies involved in legal policy, organizations concerned with law reform, European institutions, and international organizations will also find much to interest them in this book. Contents: Preface; 1. Copyright as Property; 2. Copyright-Property and the Public Domain:Explanations and Justifications; 3. The Limitations to the Powers of Copyright Ownership; 4. The Attribution and Allocation of Copyright-Property: Authorship, Creativity and Ownership; 5. The Effects of Copyright-Property I: The Problem of Alienation; 6. The Effects of Copyright-Property II: Neo-Feudal and Neo-Colonial Features of International Copyright Protection; Conclusions; Index

Money is a legal institution with principal economic and sociological consequences. Money is a debt, because that is how it is conceptualised and comes into existence: as circulating credit - if viewed from the creditor's perspective - or, from the debtor's viewpoint, as debt. This book presents a legal theory of money, based on the concept of dematerialised property. It describes the money creation or money supply process for cash and for bank money, and looks at modern forms of money, such as cryptocurrencies. It also shows why mainstream economics presupposes, but avoids an analysis of, money by effectively eliminating money from the microeconomic market model and declaring it as merely a neutral medium of exchange and unit of account. The book explains that money rather brings about and influences substantially the exchange or transaction it is supposed to facilitate only as a neutral medium. As the most liquid of all assets, money enables financialisation, monetisation and commodification in the economy. The central role of the banks in the money creation process and in the economy, and their strengthened position after the bank rescue measures in the wake of the financial crisis 2008-9 are also discussed. Providing a rigorous analysis of the most salient legal issues regarding money, this book will appeal to legal theorists, economists and anyone working in commercial or banking law.

This book re-establishes the importance of the ideas and legal philosophy of Scottish jurist and philosopher Lord Kames. The Scottish jurist, judge, legal historian and philosopher Henry Home (1696-1782) took the title Lord Kames when he was elevated to the bench of the Scottish Court of Session in 1752. In the 18th century, his books were influential and widely read; the educated classes and representatives of the Enlightenment in England, France and in the German states were all familiar with his aesthetic and philosophical writings. Andreas Rahmatian explains Kames' conceptions of legal philosophy, including black letter law, legal science, legal theory, legal sociology and anthropology in its early stages, setting them in the context of the Scottish Enlightenment. He looks at how Kames came to be one of the forefathers of comparative law, sociology of law, legal psychology and 'legal science' in its proper meaning, as opposed to 'law'.