Intellectual Property: An Interdisciplinary Conversation <-- click to download

 

February 25, 2005, 9am-4:15pm

College of Law, 4th Floor Student Lounge

This one-day symposium will bring together a diverse range of scholars and professionals who are interested in, or impacted by, intellectual property law. Aimed at a general audience and open to the public, the panels will consist of distinguished visiting speakers and members of the University of Iowa community.

The purpose of this symposium — which will be held in conjunction with a special issue of Cultural Studies co-edited UI Prof. Kembrew McLeod and Indiana University Prof. Ted Striphas — is to help foster a meaningful and genuinely interdisciplinary confluence of scholarly research. Although many areas of study valorize the notion of interdisciplinary work, in the abstract, one remarkable thing about recent intellectual property research is the way it has produced a genuine cross-pollination of scholarship and many significant topical intersections, from library science and computer science to genetics, media studies and traditional legal scholarship. This symposium and special issue of Cultural Studies will serve as one of the first public “gatherings” of what New York University’s Siva Vaidhyanathan has called the emergent field of “critical information studies.”

In addition to panelists from across the University of Iowa, confirmed visiting panelists include keynote speaker Siva Vaidhyanathan (New York University, Department of Culture and Communication), Rebecca Eisenberg (University of Michigan Law School), Adrian Johns (University of Chicago, History), Nelson Pavlosky (Plaintiff, OPG v. Diebold), Eva Hemmungs Wirtén (Uppsala University, Sweden), Sut Jhally (U Mass-Amherst, Communication Department and Executive Director of Media Education Foundation), Steve Jones (University of Illinois, Professor of Communication and Research Associate in the Electronic Visualization Laboratory), David Sanjek (Broadcast Music Incorporated Archives Director), Ted Striphas (Indiana University, Department of Communication and Culture), Gil Rodman (University of South Florida, Department of Communication), Paula Kaufman (U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University Librarian), and John Wilbanks (Executive Director of Science Commons).

SCHEDULE:

Friday, February 25

University of Iowa College of Law

4th Floor Student Lounge
Coffee & Cake Reception

Opening comments by University of Iowa Executive Vice President and Provost Michael J. Hogan
9am – 9:30am

 

 

Panel: Open Sources, Open Access & The Commons
9:30 – 11:00am

What kinds of activities do intellectual property laws promote or prohibit in disciplines such as computer science, library science, genetic research, and other diverse areas of research? What are the contours of the public domain? Of those materials that are protected by intellectual property laws, how can we create a balance that both secures the interests of creators and promotes free inquiry?

Kembrew McLeod (UI, Communication Studies & POROI)
-Moderator

Rebecca Eisenberg
-University of Michigan Law School

Bruce Wheaton
-University of Iowa, Executive Director, UI Research Foundation

Jeff Murray
-UI, Professor of Pediatrics, Biology, Dentistry and Preventative Medicine

Nancy Baker
-UI, University Librarian

Alberto Segre
-UI, Computer Science

Adrian Johns
-University of Chicago, History

Eva Hemmungs Wirtén
-Uppsala University, Sweden

Panel: Fair Uses
11:15am-12:45pm

How does the fair use doctrine protect free speech in a multimedia age, and what are the limits of that protection? How does the fair use doctrine manifest itself within various professions and areas of the arts? How is the fair use doctrine shaped more generally? What are defensible uses for traditional materials, and how might recent laws alter the balance of power in digital mediums?

Merrie Snell (UI, POROI Program Associate, Iowa Writer’s Workshop MFA)
-Moderator

Christina Bohannan
-UI, College of Law

Sut Jhally
-UMass-Amherst, Communication Department and Executive Director of Media Education Foundation

John Sorensen
-Producer, PBS

Pamela Trimpe
-Curator, UI Museum of Art

David Sanjek
-Broadcast Music Incorporated Archives Director

Nelson Pavlosky
-Plaintiff in OPG v. Diebold

Siva Vaidhyanathan
-New York University, Department of Culture and Communication

Lunch
12:45 – 2:00pm

Panel: The Promises and Perils of a Licensed World
2:00 – 3:30pm

What happens when we move from selling and buying traditional materials (CDs, print journal articles, etc.) to a system where things aren’t purchased, but licensed? How do Digital Rights Management schemes alter social practices that center around intellectual property (for instance, trading music, loaning books)? How can we create and manage licensing systems that can protect commercial interests, but also promote the transfer of knowledge in ways that stimulate innovation, disseminate knowledge, create public benefit, promote global health equity, and ensure reasonable access to important technologies?

Mark D. Janis (UI, College of Law)
-Moderator

Paula Kaufman
-U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University Librarian

Ted Striphas
-Indiana University, Department of Communication and Culture

Gil Rodman
-University of South Florida, Department of Communication

Steve Jones
-University of Illinois, Professor of Communication and Research Associate in the Electronic Visualization Laboratory

John Wilbanks
-Executive Director of Science Commons

Usha Balakrishnan
-University of Iowa, Director of Corporate Partnerships

Paul Greenough
-Professor of History and of Community & Behavioral Health, Co-director, National Resource Center in International Studies, Crossing Borders and Global Health Studies Programs

 

Keynote Lecture
3:30 – 4:15

Siva Vaidhyanathan, New York University, Department of Culture and Communication
“Critical Information Studies: A Manifesto”