Upcoming Events: The Eureka Myth: Creators, Innovators and Everyday Intellectual Property (12/2)

The Eureka Myth: Creators, Innovators and Everyday Intellectual Property

Tuesday, December 2, 12:30pm ET, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor. This event will be webcast live.

The book analyzes and elaborates upon a qualitative empirical study of artists, scientists, engineers, lawyers and businesspeople that investigates the motivations and mechanisms of creative and innovative activity in everyday professional life. Based on over fifty face-to-face interviews, the book centers on the stories told by interviewees describing how and why they create and innovate and whether or how IP law plays a role in their activities. The goal of the empirical project was to figure out how IP actually works in creative and innovative fields, as opposed to how we think or say it works (through formal law or legislative debate). Breaking new ground in its qualitative method examining the economic and cultural system of creative and innovative production, The Eureka Myth draws out new and surprising conclusions about the sometimes misinterpreted relationships between creativity, invention and intellectual property protections.

Professor Jessica Silbey's scholarship draws from her interdisciplinary background in the humanities and law. One of her interests is in intellectual property law, particularly in the investigation of "IP communities:" activities, groups and organizations with a particular creative or innovative focus. She studies the common and conflicting narratives within those communities in relation to intellectual property law and legal institutions that purport to regulate them. RSVP Required. more information on our website>

Brad Smith and Jonathan Zittrain on Privacy, Surveillance, and Rebuilding Trust in Tech

One of the enduring issues in cyberspace is which laws apply to online activities. We see this most clearly today in the reaction to revelations about government surveillance: on one hand, individuals are increasingly seeking assurances that their content is protected from government overreach, while governments want to ensure they have access to information to enforce their laws, even if that content is stored outside their borders. We see this same tension in debates over privacy protection for data placed on line by consumers. Brad Smith -- Microsoft’s general counsel and executive vice president of Legal and Corporate Affairs -- and Jonathan Zittrain -- Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society -- explore the role of law in protecting our rights in the physical world online, the complementary roles of law and technology in achieving this protection, and the need for governments to come together so that companies (and customers) don’t face conflicting legal obligations. video/audio on YouTube>

CopyrightX: Lessons from Networked Legal Education – A Discussion with Professor William Fisher

Professor William Fisher discusses his experiences in designing and teaching CopyrightX, a unique course that combines a traditional law school course with affiliated courses in other countries and an online course open to the public to provide instruction about copyright systems around the world as part of the Third Annual Peter Jaszi Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property. video/audio on American University's website>

CopyrightX is a networked course that explores the current law of copyright; the impact of that law on art, entertainment, and industry; and the ongoing debates concerning how the law should be reformed. Through a combination of recorded lectures, assigned readings, weekly seminars, live interactive webcasts, and online discussions, participants in the course examine and assess the ways in which the copyright system seeks to stimulate and regulate creative expression. The application for the CopyrightX online sections will run from Oct. 15 - Dec. 15. See CopyrightX:Sections for details.