CALL FOR PAPERS

With the rise of the digital era and the technological maelstrom that spawned it, the nature of recorded communication has shifted drastically, putting industrial-strength copying and distribution tools in the hands of consumers. This shift highlights the changing relationships between consumers, producers, artists, and business. The Copyright and Intellectual Property area seeks to foster an interdisciplinary discussion about the tumultuous cultural battle raging over how we understand the production and distribution of knowledge. We seek to include presentations both scholarly and practical.

Possible topics could include:

– The Oatmeal and Internet Copyfighting – Recent copyright and IP legislation – Ideologies and philosophies of intellectual property – The decline of the public domain – Creative Commons and Fair Use in the public sphere – Digital Rights Management and the battle over control – Libraries and archives in the digital age – Apple’s “walled garden” philosophy vs. Android’s marketplace – Creativity and copyright in the digital age – Copyright in Popular Culture – WIPO and other international issues regarding intellectual property – Patent law, miracle drugs, and the morality of third-world patent enforcement

Please send all inquires to: Brendan Riley Columbia College Chicago briley@colum.edu