19 Apr Copyright: What Happened to the Republic of Letters?
Meredith McGill (English, Rutgers University)
Oren Bracha (Law, University of Texas)
Moderator: Mark Rose (English, UCSB)
Thursday, April 19, 2012 / 4:00 PM
McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB
Two eminent historians of copyright will discuss the transformation of American copyright law from the very limited regime of the early nineteenth century to the expansionist regime of the late nineteenth century. This transformation set the foundation for the current copyright regime which many believe represents a threat to the civic commons.
Oren Bracha, Professor of Law at the University of Texas, is the author of many important articles on the history of copyright as well as a book-length study forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. Meredith McGill, Associate Professor of English and Director of the Center for Cultural Analysis at Rutgers University, is the author of a major study of US copyright in the early nineteenth century, American Literature and the Culture of Reprinting.
Sponsored by the Dickson Emeritus Professorship and the IHC’s Public Goods series.
Meredith McGill and Oren Bracha will also be participating in a colloquium for UCSB graduate students on April 20. For details, visit this page.