With the rise of the digital era and the technological maelstrom that spawned it, the nature of recorded communication has shifted drastically, putting industrial-strength copying and distribution tools in the hands of consumers. This shift highlights the changing relationships between consumers, producers, artists, and business. The Copyright and Intellectual Property area seeks to foster an interdisciplinary discussion about the tumultuous cultural battle raging over how we understand the production and distribution of knowledge. We seek to include presentations both scholarly and practical.

Possible topics could include:

Recent copyright and IP legislation
Ideologies and philosophies of intellectual property
Wikileaks and the conflict between IP and the public interest
The decline of the public domain
Creative Commons and Fair Use in the public sphere
Digital Rights Management and the battle over control
Libraries and archives in the digital age
Apple’s “walled garden” philosophy vs. Android’s marketplace
Creativity and copyright in the digital age
Copyright in Popular Culture
WIPO and other international issues regarding intellectual property
Patent law, miracle drugs, and the morality of third-world patent enforcement

Deadlines

Paper Proposals Due December 15, 2011
Proposals Due for Endowment January 7, 2012
Tentative Program on Web January 28, 2012
Early Bird Registration Ends January 31, 2012
Regular Registration Begins February 1, 2012
Regular Registration Ends March 31, 2012
Late Registration Begins April 1, 2012
Last Day for a Refund February 15, 2012