While reading Chapter 5 of Copyright Highway by Paul Goldstein I stumbled upon a quote that made me think about how the structure of our government shapes our copyright laws.  Goldstein says “The European culture of copyright places authors at its center, giving them as a matter of natural rights control over every use of their works that may affect their interests.” (Goldstein, 138)  About the American copyright laws he says it “centers on a hard, utilitarian calculus that balances the needs of copyright producers against the needs of copyright consumers.” (Goldstein, 138)

Goldstein goes on to mention how this shows the difference in European and American lawmakers.  I agree with this analysis and would like to go a step further.  As I read the quotes mentioned above I noticed a parallel between how Goldstein was describing the respective countries copyright policies and the structure of their governments.  In other words the American copyright laws mirror it’s government structure and so does Europe’s.  The American government is structured so that the citizens choose their lawmakers and therefore have a say in how the country is run.  They are given rights and what the American citizens want is considered.  This is paralleled to the copyright laws  as Goldstein describes them; considering the needs of the consumers as well as the producers.

Generally Europe’s governments also mirror their copyright policies.  Their governments as a whole aren’t as concerned about what the typical citizens think.  This is similar to their copyright laws because they are concerned entirely with the author and not the consumer.  All in all, government structure seems to have an effect on how copyright laws are written up.