The International Space Station (ISS) is governed by a multi-layered legal structure consisting of the Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement and multiple Memoranda of Understanding involving the United States, Canada, Japan, the Russian Federation, and a number of member states of the European Union. In this work, the editors (of Leiden U.'s International Institute of Air and Space Law and the U. of Groningen's LL.M. Program in International Law and the Law of International Organizations, both in the Netherlands) present fifteen papers that explore this complicated legal edifice as it relates to current and prospective commercial utilization of the ISS. Largely revolving around European concerns, the papers explore broad general issues and legal frameworks, and such narrower topics as the protection of intellectual property rights related to space station activities, jurisdictional and liability issues, the legal protection of data created or collected in outer space and the 1996 European Database Directive, disciplinary and criminal law in space, and the possibility of European Union jurisdiction on board a space station. Also presented are British, German, Italian, and Spanish perspectives on the commercial law of the ISS. Martinus Nijhoff is an imprint of Brill. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)