A 71-page text by Pamela Samuelson of UC Berkeley. A well-researched, up-to-date document with lots of footnotes and references to more details on the subject. Outline:

Reverse Engineering ...
    ... in Traditional Manufacturing Industries
    ... In the Semiconductor Industry
    ... in the Computer Software Industry
    ... of Technically Protected Digital Content
    ... as a Policy Lever

The Law and Economics of Reverse Engineering [PDF]