About
Comm/IS 429: Copyright in a Digital Age (Fall 2007)
We’re in the midst of a contentious legal and cultural battle about copyright and its role in the digital age. Decisions made now will not only influence the music and movie industries, consumers and fans, artists and filmmakers, they will also help define the Net as a medium of communication. As these controversies are slowly being settled, recognition of the broader issues and concerns that they raise remains sporadic. In this class, we will look at recent legal battles in the context of the historical and ideological relationships among authorship, technology, commerce, law, and culture. We will investigate these questions and uncover important issues for cultural participation in a digital world: who gets to speak, what they can say, who will hear, under what conditions communication can occur, and with what consequences. We will consider how the law acts as an arena for the collision of authorship and the market, technology and expression, individual and institution, culture and power.
This blog will provide a space for the students in this class to maintain a regular discussion about the readings, and larger issues and ideas, of the course. Anyone outside of the course is welcome to post and comment as well.