Alex Sayf Cummings. Democracy of Sound: Music Piracy and the Remaking of American Copyright in the Twentieth Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013, 257p. $29.95 (ISBM 978-0-19-985822-4). LC2012-041759

The unauthorized reproduction of sound recordings today is generally discussed only in terms of the Internet and the unprecedented ease by which digital files can be copied and transferred. In Democracy of Sound: Music Piracy and the Remaking of American Copyright in the Twentieth Century, Alex Sayf Cummings shows that the file-sharing activities and concerns of recent decades are just the latest chapter in more than a century of technological, legal, and social change. Shaping this history is the persistent tension between consumers— who find enjoyment, entertainment, and identity through music—and the composers , performers, and (to the greatest degree) corporations that own the associated copyrights and seek to maximize profit by controlling the availability and use of their products. Also part of this equation are pirates , those individuals and organizations that reproduce and distribute recordings in violation of the law, clearly disrupting the authority of copyright holders, as well as diminishing their profits in some cases. As Cummings demonstrates, though, the motivations and effects of music pirates are as diverse as the wide range of music being pirated, and, as legal restrictions and penalties have become increasingly severe, a valuable aspect of creative culture is being lost. Cummings is certainly critical of the record industry, but his purpose is not to support or justify piracy. Rather, he sets out to understand piracy—its origins, its functions, its costs, its benefits—and the reactions to it. In doing so, he presents the most nuanced, balanced, and complete assessment of unauthorized music copying yet published. Since the advent of recorded sound in the 1870s, some manner of piracy has existed, whether it was counterfeit wax cylinders, out-of-print 78s reproduced by jazz and opera collectors, bootleg LPs of live performances and studio outtakes, remixed samplings of recordings circulated on cassettes and CDs by aspiring hip-hop artists, or mp3s of new and old music alike shared on sites like Napster and Limewire. In the case of out-and-out counterfeiting within the United States, Europe, or other established markets, where unofficial recordings were passed off for the original releases by reproducing not only the sound content but also the original packaging, the del-eterious effect on the record industry is apparent. But for other types of piracy, the true economic consequences are harder to discern. Many times, piracy simply " filled in the cracks between official supply and real demand " (209) by satisfying consumers' interest in …