Objects of Property and Subjects of Politics: Intellectual Property Laws and Democratic Dialogue

29 Pages Posted: 9 Jul 2014

See all articles by Rosemary J. Coombe

Rosemary J. Coombe

York University - Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies; York University

Date Written: June 1991

Abstract

In this article, I address the political dimension of relationship between legal ownership and cultural authority. What we experience as social reality is a constellation of cultural structures that we ourselves construct and transform in ongoing practice. Any consideration of contemporary life must take into account both the production and the consumption of media-disseminated cultural forms. The type of practice I am concerned with is most readily apparent in trademark law, but examples may also be found in the publicity rights and copyright fields. I will momentarily leave aside the question of whether trademark rights give you "ownership" of a sign or symbol in any and all contexts ("authorities" say they don't, but then it is judges who authorize their use). With Pavel Medvedev and Valentin Voloshinov, Bakhtin developed a body of philosophy about the constitutive role of language in human life and the cultural life of democracy, which he saw as quintessentially dialogical. I borrow Bakhtin's authority here because he transcends and rejects the dichotomy of subjectivity and objectivity by understanding culture as the ongoing activity of transformative meaning-making.

Keywords: Trademark, Cultural authority, Bakhtin

Suggested Citation

Coombe, Rosemary J., Objects of Property and Subjects of Politics: Intellectual Property Laws and Democratic Dialogue (June 1991). Texas Law Review 1853-1880, Vol. 69, 1991, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2463402

Rosemary J. Coombe (Contact Author)

York University - Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies ( email )

Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada

York University ( email )

4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://www.yorku.ca/rcoombe/publications.htm

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