Voices Near and Far
Mireille van Eechoud (ed.), The Work of Authorship. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 2014.
16 Pages Posted: 7 Feb 2020
Date Written: December 15, 2014
Abstract
Copyright laws are important regulators of cultural expression, because they grant extensive rights to control the reproduction, adaptation and communication of ‘literary’ and ‘artistic’ works. The twin concepts of authorship and original work are central to copyright laws the world over; their interpretation driven by economic and technological concerns. In this collection of essays contributors from various academic disciplines query what diverse disciplines in the humanities ‒ including literary studies, aesthetics, film studies, and the philosophy of art ‒ have to offer law, in a quest to establish a more nuanced and useful conception of copyright and authorship.
This introductory chapter ‘sets the stage’ for the various explorations that follow, of notions of collaborative authorship and original works in academic thought, societal practice and as legal norms. To provide especially the readership not familiar with copyright lawmaking with a useful backdrop, a characterization of the current state of copyright law in Europe is given. The role of the EU as primary actor in copyright reform is described. We can then sketch what the pertinent questions are on authorship and copyright subject-matter, a.k.a. original intellectual creations, and how the authors of each contributions have addressed these.
Keywords: copyright; collective authorship; aesthetics; philosophy of art; collective creative practices
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation