Copyright History

Does Copyright Have A Future Against Artistic Freedom Vouchers?

by Jacques Coulardeau

Abstract
In the present debate on the protection of copyright and author’s rights on the Internet some propose to drop copyright altogether. This article goes back to the founding act of copyright in 1557 in England and follows its history till today, showing how the concept of intellectual property has slowly emerged. Then the most recent Supreme Court case on the subject will be examined showing that legally the battle against Copyright is lost, and leading to a clear analysis and rebuttal of Dean Baker’s Artistic Freedom Vouchers.

Dans le débat actuel sur le droit d’auteur et l’Internet certains prônent l’abandon pur et simple du droit d’auteur. Cet article remonte à l’acte fondateur du copyright en 1557 en Angleterre et en suit l’histoire jusqu’à aujourd’hui, montrant comment le concept de propriété intellectuelle s’est lentement constitué . Puis le cas le plus récent examiné par la Cour Suprême des Etats-Unis sur ce sujet montrera comment la bataille contre le copyright est perdue et cela aboutira à une analyse contradictoire des Coupons de la Liberté Artistique de Dean Baker.

Intellectual property in spite of our difficulty to define and manage it has become today an unavoidable dimension of... more Intellectual property in spite of our difficulty to define and manage it has become today an unavoidable dimension of artistic life and creation. It has been inscribed and codified in international treaties for more than a century, since the Berne Convention in 1886. Most countries are linked by many agreements, treaties, conventions, international organizations and even international governance as for intellectual property and there is no way to evade it today. The US have even set that principle of the copyright in their constitution, making it a basic right of all Americans who are governed by this constitution. But above all the very principle of the income that is due to any worker for his work, according to the value of the work, to the value added in the products, to the value of the working power of the worker, an income hence proportional to the quantity and quality of the work and products must apply to these artistic workers. We have to find a well balanced equilibrium between this intellectual property that requires an income and the fact that this work produces products that are part of human heritage. Then two questions come up. How can we conserve it for future generation? And How can we manage public domain property?
Dean Baker did not even consider these questions and many others I asked all along.

Strangling philosophy

by Tawadeen Bankole

The development of copyright and moral rights in the European legal systems

by Simon Newman

"You can access my papers on SSRN at: http://ssrn.com/author=1764215"

E.I.P.R. 2011, 33(11), 677-689
[European Intellectual Property Review]


Abstract: Compares how... more E.I.P.R. 2011, 33(11), 677-689
[European Intellectual Property Review]


Abstract: Compares how the concepts of copyright and authors' moral rights were influenced by the different courses of development of the legal systems in France, Germany and the UK. Considers which approach to moral rights is most suitable for the modern environment of international trade.

Human Rights and Copyrights: A Look at Practical Jurisprudence with Reference to Authors' Rights [2009] E.I.P.R. 88

by Simon Newman

Authors; Copyright; Human rights; Jurisprudence; Moral rights Authors; Copyright; Human rights; Jurisprudence; Moral rights

The DACS Slide Collection Licensing Scheme

by jenny godfrey

The Author, Art, and the Market: Rereading the History of Aesthetics* Authors and Owners: The Invention of Copyright, MLQ, 1994

by Paul Trolander

Review of Mark Rose's "Authors and Owner's: The Invention of Copyright" Harvard, 1993; and Martha Woodansee's "The Author, Art and Market: Rereading the History of Aesthetics" CUP, 1994.

"The Select Collection and the Rise of the (Reprinted) Novel." Recognizing the Romantic Novel: New Approaches to British Fiction, 1780-1832. Ed. Jill Heydt-Stevenson and Charlotte Sussman. University of Liverpool Press, 2008. Pages 119-55.

by Michael Gamer

NB: what's above are the proof pages for the essay; there are therefore a few errors.

"Confronting the Enclosure of the Cultural Commons: An Interview with Nina Paley"

by Amy Chazkel

Radical History Review Issue 109 (Winter 2011), 137-152

The cartoonist and filmmaker Nina Paley became a vociferous opponent of proprietary control of creative work under... more The cartoonist and filmmaker Nina Paley became a vociferous opponent of proprietary control of creative work under U.S. copyright law following her experiences in making her award-winning Sita Sings the Blues (2009), an animated feature film based largely on the ancient Indian epic story of the Ramayana set to music from the 1920s, whose rights are owned by media corporations. Paley released her film, and all subsequent work, under a Creative Commons license, which not only made it freely available to anyone who wished to view, share, and add to her creative work but also legally protected her work as part of the cultural commons in perpetuity. In this interview with Amy Chazkel, Paley explains her travails as she tried to "free" her work, the artistic and creative benefit of doing so, and the rationale behind her political conviction. She also probes the connections between the enclosure of the cultural and the material commons.

THE ‘3 IDIOTS’ CONTROVERSY— FOCUSING ON THE CONTRACTUAL LIABILITIES AND MORAL RIGHTS OF THE AUTHOR

by Debadyuti Banerjee

Co-authored with Parth Gokhale, junior at WBNUJS
Published in NUJS Law Review Vol.3, 2010.

The Hindi film ‘3 Idiots’ which released in 2009 has achieved that dubious distinction of having attracted the... more The Hindi film ‘3 Idiots’ which released in 2009 has achieved that dubious distinction of having attracted the attention of legal academia because of the public war of words between the film’s makers on the one hand, and the novelist from whose novel the movie derives considerable inspiration on the other. The genesis of the dispute was in the novelist, Chetan Bhagat’s contention that the Production House, namely Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions, had adapted the content of his novel to an extent far greater, and in a manner far more direct, than what he had been led to believe by way of the Agreement arrived at between them. Another allegation directed against the Production House was concerning the inadequacy of credits acknowledged to the Author by way of the said Agreement. The paper addresses the above issues under two distinct heads, namely the contractual liabilities and those pertaining to the intellectual property rights. It tries to suggest some remedial steps which could be taken by novelists in similar situations in addition to steps which could be taken by the State to give better protection to such vulnerable parties in the future.

Rethinking the Rhetoric of Remix

by Margie Borschke

Borschke, M 2011, "Rethinking the rhetoric of remix" in Media International Australia, No. 141, pp. 17-25

How did 'remix' a post-production technique and compositional form in dance music, come to describe digital culture?... more How did 'remix' a post-production technique and compositional form in dance music, come to describe digital culture? Is it an apt metaphor? In this article I consider the rhetorical use of remix in Lawrence Lessig’s case for copyright reform in Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy (2008). I argue that Lessig’s understanding of remix is problematic as it seems unable to accommodate its musical namesake and obscures the particular history of media use in recent music culture. Drawing on qualitative analysis of popular music cultures, I argue that the conceptualization of remix as any media made from pre-existing media is problematic. The origins of remix, I argue, provides a lens for thinking critically about the rhetorical uses of the term in current discourse and forces us to ponder materialities. My aim is not to dispute the word’s contemporary meaning or attempt to establish a correct usage of the term—clearly a wide variety of creators call their work remix—instead, this article considers the rhetorical work that remix is asked to perform as a way to probe the assumptions and aspirations that lurk behind behind Lessig’s argument.

Middle American meets Middle-earth : American Publication and Discussion of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, 1954-1969.

by J. Ripp

A revised version of this paper focusing on the period between 1965-1969 was published in Book History 8 (2005), available through Project Muse.

This study discusses the early publication history of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in the United States. It begins by... more This study discusses the early publication history of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in the United States. It begins by examining the composition and publication of the book and its initial reception in American print media. Following an examination of the ambiguities of contemporary copyright law, the paper describes nearly simultaneous unauthorized and authorized mass-market publication of The Lord of the Rings, which resulted in radically increased public awareness of the book.
Public discussion of The Lord of the Rings centered on the relationship between the essence of the book, and its perceived audience. While the book met with some mild controversy during the mid 1950s, discussion was confined to literary terms. Following the publication of two competing paperback editions in 1965, however, the print media generated a substantial body of literature reflecting a broader attempt to describe the social impact of a popular book on a popular audience.

Middle America Meets Middle-Earth: American Discussion and Readership of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of The Rings, 1965-1969.

by J. Ripp

Published in Book History 8 (2005). Full text access requires access to Project Muse. This version is a revision of a master's paper presented in partial completion of the M.S.L.S. degree in the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.