In this book Michael Ryan explains the issues, politics, and diplomacy of balancing intellectual property rights with the public's right of access. He discusses the major negotiations to forge international policy in the 1980s and 1990s, including the bilateral U.S. intellectual property negotiations with China and other developing countries, the multilateral negotiations conducted at GATT, and the 1996 copyright treaties negotiated at the World Intellectual Property Organization.

He analyzes the shaping context of global competition in intellectual property-intensive industries - pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, film and music, publishing, information technology, and software - and the industries' policy advocacy tactics and strategies to protect their markets.

He examines the role of the World Intellectual Property Organization and explores the new "knowledge diplomacy" that will establish the rules governing the exploitation of innovation and expression in a digital, twenty-first century global economy.