The 2009 Grafstein Lecture in Communications
Professor Neil Netanel
Professor, University of California at Los Angeles School of Law
"Copyright’s Paradox"
Monday, March 23, 2009
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
McCarthy Tetrault Classroom A,
Flavelle House, 78 Queen's Park
University of Toronto Faculty of Law
The United States Supreme Court famously labeled copyright “the engine of free expression” because it provides a vital economic incentive for much of the literature, commentary, music, art, and film that makes up our public discourse. Yet today’s greatly expanded copyright law often does the opposite—it can be used to quash news reporting, political commentary, church dissent, historical scholarship, cultural critique, and artistic expression. In Copyright’s Paradox, Neil Weinstock Netanel explores the tensions between copyright law and free speech concerns, revealing how copyright law can impose unacceptable burdens on speech. Netanel provides concrete illustrations of how copyright often prevents speakers from effectively conveying their message, tracing this conflict across both traditional and digital media and considering current controversies such as the YouTube and MySpace copyright infringement cases, Hip-hop music and digital sampling,and the Google Book Search litigation. The author juxtaposes the dramatic expansion of copyright holders’ proprietary control against the individual’s newly found ability to digitally cut, paste, edit, remix, and distribute sound recordings, movies, TV programs, graphics, and texts the world over. He tests whether, in light of these developments and others, copyright still serves as a vital engine of free expression and he assesses how copyright does--and does not--burden speech. Copyright and free speech will always stand in some tension. But, as Netanel demonstrates, there are ways in which copyright can continue to serve as an engine of free expression while leaving ample room for speakers to build on copyrighted works to convey their message, express their personal commitments, and fashion new art.
Neil Netanel is a Professor of Law at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law. He writes and teaches in the areas of copyright, international intellectual property, and media and telecommunications. Professor Netanel earned his J.S.D. from Stanford University, J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, and B.A. from Yale University. His recent books and book projects include Copyright’s Paradox (Oxford University Press, 2008); The Development Agenda: Global Intellectual Property and Developing Countries (Neil Weinstock Netanel ed., Oxford University Press, 2008); and From Maimonides to Microsoft; The Jewish Law of Copyright Since the Birth of Print (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2010) (with David Nimmer).
