James Boyle (academic)
James Boyle (born 1959[1]) is a Scottish intellectual property scholar. He is the William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law and co-founder of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at Duke University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina.[2] He is most prominently known for advocating looser copyright policies in the United States and worldwide.
James Boyle | |
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Born | 1959 (age 62-63) Scotland |
Nationality | Scottish |
Citizenship | United Kingdom |
Alma mater | |
Occupation(s) | Legal academic and author |
Employer | Duke University School of Law |
Known for | Creative Commons |
Notable work |
|
Title | William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law |
Awards | Duke Bar Association Distinguished Teaching Award |
Website |
Teaching and activism
Boyle graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1980 and subsequently studied at Harvard Law School.[1] He joined Duke University School of Law in July 2000.[3] He had previously taught at American University, Yale, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
In 2002, he was one of the founding board members of Creative Commons,[4] and held the position of Chairman of the Board in 2009, after which he stepped down.[5][3] He also co-founded Science Commons, which aims to expand the Creative Commons mission into the realm of scientific and technical data, and ccLearn, a division of Creative Commons aimed at facilitating access to open education resources.[6]
In 2006, he earned the Duke Bar Association Distinguished Teaching Award.[3]
The courses he teaches include "Intellectual Property", "The Constitution in Cyberspace", "Law and Literature", "Jurisprudence", and "Torts".[3]
Written works
He is the author of Shamans, Software and Spleens: Law and Construction of the Information Society[7] as well as a novel published under a Creative Commons license, The Shakespeare Chronicles.[8][9]
In his work on intellectual property, The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind (2008), Boyle argues that the current system of copyright protections fails to fulfill the original intent of copyright: rewarding and encouraging creativity.[10] It was also published under a non-commercial CC BY-NC-SA Creative Commons license.[11]
Boyle also contributes a column to the Financial Times New Technology Policy Forum.
In 2011, Boyle was one of five experts consulted for the Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth, a comprehensive analysis of the United Kingdom's intellectual property system that made suggestions for data-driven reform of the system.[12]
Selected publications
- Shamans, Software and Spleens: Law and Construction of the Information Society, Harvard University Press 1997, ISBN 978-0-674-80522-4
- The Public Domain (ed), Winter/Spring 2003 edition of Law and Contemporary Problems (vol 66, ##1–2), Duke University School of Law
- Bound by Law? Tales from the Public Domain , Duke University Center for the Study of the Public Domain 2006, ISBN 978-0-9741553-1-9
- Cultural Environmentalism @ 10 (ed, with Lawrence Lessig), Spring 2007 edition of Law and Contemporary Problems (vol 70, #2), Duke University School of Law
- Cultural Environmentalism and Beyond
- The Shakespeare Chronicles: A Novel, Lulu Press 2006, ISBN 978-1-4303-0768-6
- Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind, Yale University Press 2008, ISBN 978-0-300-13740-8
- Theft: A History of Music, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2017, ISBN 978-1535543675
References
- "Law School Profile: DUKE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW". martindale.com. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
- "People". Center for the Study of the Public Domain. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- Biography at Duke University School of Law
- Amy Harmon (13 May 2002). "A New Direction for Intellectual Property". N.Y.Times. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
- Linksvayer, Mike (1 April 2009). "Esther Wojcicki Becomes Creative Commons Board Chair". Creative Commons. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
- Biography on Boyle's official website. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
- Boyle, James (1997), Shamans, Software and Spleens: Law and Construction of the Information Society, Harvard University Press
- Boyle, James (2007), The Shakespeare Chronicles, Lulu Press
- "Inspired by his defense of the Bard in court, Professor James Boyle pens a literary thriller". Duke University School of Law. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- Aaron Stronge (13 May 2002). "Review: The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind" (PDF). Journal of High Technology Law, Suffolk University Law School. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
- Boyle, James (2008), The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind, Yale University Press
- "(When) Is Copyright Reform Possible? Lessons from the Hargreaves Review" by James Boyle (2015)
External links
- Official website
- Biography at Duke University School of Law
- 7 Ways to Ruin a Technological Revolution on YouTube
- The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind, 2008
- RSA Vision webcast – James Boyle on "The Public Domain: enclosing the commons of the mind"
- Works by James Boyle at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about James Boyle at Internet Archive
- Appearances on C-SPAN