HOUSTON, Aug. 14,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Memes, dance
crazes, hackathons and traditional cultural expression are
increasingly important to how we express ourselves. Despite their
popularity and impact, these collaborative creative efforts face
significant challenges in gaining protection and enforcement under
current copyright law.
"Solo and team authorship(s) are covered, but copyright law
fails in the third category – communal authorship," said
University of Houston Law Center
Assistant Professor Aman Gebru.
In his paper "Communal Authorship," Gebru explores the legal
challenges and raises critical questions about copyright law's
ability to adapt to these evolving forms of creativity.
Forms of communal creativity often involve contributions from
countless individuals, complicating traditional notions of
ownership and copyright.
"Now we've come to learn that usually, creators are standing on
the shoulders of giants, which is to say you build on what you've
read before, what you've consumed before. We've ignored that for a
while and just said, 'It's a single person or a single company that
owns the copyright because they created it, and they deserve to get
all the benefits.' But now, especially because of technological
advancements, we're seeing instances where a single unit of
expression, like a book or a photo or a musical work, is actually
the result of hundreds or thousands of people contributing. It's
not easy to define the thing because it's constantly changing,"
Gebru said.
"Memes are the perfect of examples because there are usually
hundreds of thousands of variations of a meme, especially if it's a
viral one."
Communal authorship challenges the very core of copyright law
because it has relied on a fictitious notion of a solo author since
its inception and implementation in the 18th Century, explained
Gebru.
"We have complicated this universe of rights, given that the
subject matter of what's protected has always been expanding. Then
technology comes in, first the printing press, then computers and
now artificial intelligence, all these advancements keep disrupting
the system. Every now and then we have to update how the rights are
acquired and how they are enforced. It's definitely more
challenging."
Gebru said all is not lost: "In the past, it was really hard to
trace authors or owners of the copyright, but now you have the
internet making it easier."
His fascination with copyright law was sparked during law
school. "I took a course in intellectual property law, this area of
law we decided to use to govern the creative industries. I was
drawn to it because I love music, movies, and books. It was so
fascinating to me that we have created this theory for why people
need to own expressions and inventions. It's one of the most
creative areas of law. It's one of those advanced areas where you
have to go through multiple steps of logical analysis before you
can agree with this idea of owning something you can't touch or
feel."
University of Houston Law Center
media contacts: Carrie Anna Criado, UH Law Center
Assistant Dean of Communications and Marketing,
713-743-2184, cacriado@central.uh.edu; Bonnie Buffaloe, Communications Manager,
713-743-9137, blbuffaloe@uh.edu.
About the University of Houston
Law Center
The University of Houston
Law Center (UHLC) is a dynamic, top-tier law school
located in the nation's 4th largest city. UHLC's Health Law,
Intellectual Property Law, and Part-time programs rank in the U.S.
News Top 10. It awards Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) and Master of
Laws (LL.M.) degrees, through its academic branch, the College of
Law. The Law Center is more than just a law school. It is a
powerful hub of intellectual activity with more than 12 centers and
institutes that fuel its educational mission and national
reputation. UHLC is fully accredited by the American Bar
Association and is a member of the Association of American Law
Schools.
About the University of
Houston
The University of
Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public
research university recognized with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter for
excellence in undergraduate education. UH serves the globally
competitive Houston and Gulf Coast
Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and
strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's
fourth-largest city and one of the most ethnically and culturally
diverse regions in the country, UH is a federally designated
Hispanic- and Asian-American-Serving institution with an enrollment
of more than 47,000 students.
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SOURCE University of Houston Law
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