What the books do is challenge the assumption of 'what is right'
or legal.

I truly believe this has to do with things we are are taught from
paternalistic households. And so the questions such as "Isn't copying stealing?" and "Well doesn't the author deserve to control all aspects
of his product forever (96 years currently under the Sonny Bono
copyright law)?" The answers here Lessig carefully deconstructs to show how creativity in the commons of human discourse and the founding
principles in the Constitution based on English Common Law provide
for sharing information in ways that have been legislated out of existence by our toadies in Congress.

The central concept is Fair Use.

If the heirs of Stan Getz refuse to release the musician's works
for reprint simply because the royalties are enough to live off of indefinately then those works stay out of the public domain--
you and I can't hear them. Limiting copyright and the renewal of copyright (93 percent of which is _lost_ to time) means that
archivists have Fair Use of the remaining original works and
duplication for non resale purposes such as the internet makes
possible at the expiration of copyright is not illegal.

Lessig has a webite called Creative Commons in which new
copyright schemes allow for greater freedom of the creative artist.

You will see (cc) turn up on various documents on the net.

Lessig's point in doing this work is that a great amount of
created material (that 93 percent up there) is willfully held
out of the public domain which is not in the spirit of the law.

He also tells how Walt Disney built the character of Mickey Mouse
on the filmwork from Buster Keaton. Needless to say Buster Keaton
who played Steamboat Bill never got a dime from Disney's interpretation called Steamboat Willie with a mouse as the steamboat
captain.