BOOKSHELF A Guide on How to Straddle the IP Divide in the Digital Age
T
he debate rages in legal circles on whether intellectual property law stifles access or rewards creativity.
In Cultivating Copyright: How Creators and Creative Industries Can Harness Intellectual Property to Survive the Digital Age (Routledge Research), Bhamati Viswanathan GL’02, GRL’15 argues that both sides have merit, and that balancing those two ideas is a vital part of the creative ecosystem. “What my book is really about is how creators and creative industries can think about how to survive in the digital age when content is being more easily accessed than ever, and in some ways, more in demand than ever before,” Viswanathan said. She outlines four solutions in tailoring intellectual property (IP) law toward specific needs: through business models and strategies, legal policies and practices, technological measures and cultural and normative features. A representative from Routledge Research approached Viswa‑ nathan about writing the book after hearing her have a spirited discussion about intellectual property in the developing world at a Fordham University School of Law IP conference. She initially became entrenched in IP-related work as director of business development for a dotcom company in the late 1990s after spending a few years in corporate law. “I sort of just fell in love with it, it was so fascinating,” Viswanathan said. For several years, she worked at a think-tank that focused on IP in developing countries. In 2016, Viswanathan joined the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property at George Mason University Antonin Scalia School of Law as a legal fellow, and she was asked to write the book as her fellowship was concluding. Viswanathan said she took care to include many real-world anecdotes in the book to illustrate the subject matter. “I really wanted it to be a lively read,” she said. “It is an academic book, but it has tons of examples.” For instance, filmmaker Ava DuVernay abandoned her effort to secure licensing rights to famous Dr. Martin Luther King speeches for the movie Selma. DuVernay had said pursuing licensing rights, which apparently King’s estate sold to Steven Spielberg, was a lost battle, lamenting, “‘we know those rights are gone.’” “That’s a property right used in a self-defeating way, not getting Dr. King’s work out there and undermining valuable projects,” Viswanathan said. She hopes the book is helpful to both people in the creative industry and to young lawyers interested in IP law. “I tried to make it as broad as possible,” she said, “because there are so many stakeholders in the world of intellectual property law.”
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WHAT MY BOOK IS REALLY ABOUT IS HOW CREATORS AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES CAN THINK ABOUT HOW TO SURVIVE IN THE DIGITAL AGE WHEN CONTENT IS BEING MORE EASILY ACCESSED THAN EVER, AND IN SOME WAYS, MORE IN DEMAND THAN EVER BEFORE.