Cultural Appropriations

This volume critically investigates the intellectual property laws that shape consumer culture and restrict its local interpretations. The author makes a case for the constitutive force of law in contemporary cultural politics. The book examines the origins and consequences of copyright, trademark and publicity rights laws. Arguing that juridicial regimes produce both economic and cultural value, Coombe links early copyright concepts of authorship, authority and authenticity to more global anxieties about maintaining and consolidating European colonial power. She also examines trademark and publicity rights laws to explore changing relations among objects, commodities, personas, and signs in Western societies. With examples ranging from Sikh Mounties and Gay Olympics to satanic rumours, Star Trek fanzines, and the Land "O" Lakes Indian princess, Coombe articulates an analysis of the politics and poetics of the commodity in contemporary constructions of identity and community.