I came to the topic of copyright within an academic setting from my own doctoral work, initially a biography, which has subsequently turned into a comparative generational biography of the Great War generation. It was the 1990s, when the courts were looking at fair use and biography. I suddenly saw copyright issues everywhere—in research choices and in classroom and websites for teaching purposes. I wanted to know more. I wanted to understand the parameters of copyright law that might affect my daily choices. Since then I have developed a copyright philosophy that while operating within existing laws and customs, actively encourages the use of all of the rights, policies, and privileges available.
I hold a Ph.D. in European Intellectual and Cultural History from the University of California, Los Angeles and a J.D. from the University of Arizona. This is my second year as a CIS non-resident fellow. This year, 2005-06, I am also a Leverhulme Trust Visiting Fellow and Lecturer in Intellectual Property law at the London School of Economics.
I am currently working on three copyright-related projects:
1. The Unpublished Public Domain
2. Fair Use and Blogging