The Cultural Life of Intellectual Properties
Authorship, Appropriation, and the Law
Published on 13. October 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
480 pages
978-0-8223-2119-4 (ISBN)
Description
Logos, trademarks, national insignia, brand names, celebrity images, design patents, and advertising texts are vibrant signs in a consumer culture governed by a regime of intellectual property laws. In The Cultural Life of Intellectual Properties, professor of law and cultural anthropologist Rosemary J. Coombe brings an illuminating ethnographic approach to an analysis of authorship and the role law plays in shaping the various meanings that animate these protected properties in the public sphere.
Although such artifacts are ubiquitous in contemporary culture, little attention has been paid to the impact of intellectual property law in everyday life or to how ownership of specific intellectual properties is determined and exercised. Drawing on a wide range of cases, disputes, and local struggles, Coombe examines these issues and dismantles the legal assumption that the meaning and value of a text or image is produced exclusively by an individual author or that authorship has a single point of origin. In the process, she examines controversies that include the service of turbanned Sikhs in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the use of the term Olympic in reference to the proposed gay Olympic Games. Other chapters discuss the appropriation of such celebrity images as the Marx brothers, Judy Garland, Dolly Parton, James Dean, and Luke Skywalker; the conflict over team names such as the Washington Redskins; and the opposition of indigenous peoples to stereotypical Native American insignia proffered by the entertainment industry. Ultimately, she makes a case for redefining the political in commodified cultural environments.
Significant for its insights into the political significance of current intellectual property law, this book also provides new perspectives on debates in cultural anthropology, cultural studies, and political theory. It will therefore interest both a wide scholarly and a general audience.
Although such artifacts are ubiquitous in contemporary culture, little attention has been paid to the impact of intellectual property law in everyday life or to how ownership of specific intellectual properties is determined and exercised. Drawing on a wide range of cases, disputes, and local struggles, Coombe examines these issues and dismantles the legal assumption that the meaning and value of a text or image is produced exclusively by an individual author or that authorship has a single point of origin. In the process, she examines controversies that include the service of turbanned Sikhs in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the use of the term Olympic in reference to the proposed gay Olympic Games. Other chapters discuss the appropriation of such celebrity images as the Marx brothers, Judy Garland, Dolly Parton, James Dean, and Luke Skywalker; the conflict over team names such as the Washington Redskins; and the opposition of indigenous peoples to stereotypical Native American insignia proffered by the entertainment industry. Ultimately, she makes a case for redefining the political in commodified cultural environments.
Significant for its insights into the political significance of current intellectual property law, this book also provides new perspectives on debates in cultural anthropology, cultural studies, and political theory. It will therefore interest both a wide scholarly and a general audience.
Reviews / Votes
"[F]orceful, provocative and sometimes tendentious . . . . Rosemary Coombe points us towards areas of society where the increasingly oppressive dominance of trademarks and copyrights may be resisted and possibly subverted." - Times Literary Supplement "[A]n important book, asking terribly significant questions and providing reasonable answers supported by numerous provocative examples. It deserves to be read and discussed by all who are concerned about the role of law in cultural politics." - Mark Kessler, The Law and Politics Book Review "[P]athbreaking. . . . [Coombe's] study has much to offer a broad range of scholars including those in the social sciences and humanities, communications departments, and law schools." - Lisa A. Marovich, Law and History Review "[A] fascinating romp through consumer culture." - Peter Krapp, Cultural Critique "A sparklingly original synthesis of cultural studies and law. Rosemary J. Coombe is a clever and edifying guide through the hidden landscape of property rights that subtly shapes so many cultural phenomena, from the circulation of celebrities to the struggles of indigenous peoples."-Bruce Robbins, Rutgers University "This is a scintillating cultural commentary: Coombe's own skills as anthropologist and lawyer have been re-combined to devastating effect."-Marilyn Strathern, University of Cambridge "This is highly original ethnography. Coombe not only shows us the lifeways of law, but also some fascinating routings between the streets and high theory, and back again. In all of this, Rosemary J. Coombe is a hip and good-humored guide-and a trenchant critic."-Carol J. Greenhouse, Indiana University "[A]n important book, asking terribly significant questions and providing reasonable answers supported by numerous provocative examples. It deserves to be read and discussed by all who are concerned about the role of law in cultural politics." - Mark Kessler (Law and Politics Book Review) "[P]athbreaking. . . . [Coombe's] study has much to offer a broad range of scholars including those in the social sciences and humanities, communications departments, and law schools." - Lisa A. Marovich (Law and History Review) "[A] fascinating romp through consumer culture." - Peter Krapp (Cultural Critique) "[F]orceful, provocative and sometimes tendentious . . . . Rosemary Coombe points us towards areas of society where the increasingly oppressive dominance of trademarks and copyrights may be resisted and possibly subverted." (TLS)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
North Carolina
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 29 mm
Weight
671 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8223-2119-4 (9780822321194)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Rosemary J. Coombe | Stanley Fish | Fredric Jameson
The Cultural Life of Intellectual Properties
Authorship, Appropriation, and the Law
E-Book
10/1998
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€228.99
Available for download
Person
Rosemary J. Coombe is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Toronto.