Intellectual property 法律 may seem an improbable context for studying issues of racism in American history and culture. But 电子游戏软件 faculty member Anjali大桶 asserts in her recently published book, The Color of Creatorship: Race, Intellectual Property, and the Making of Americans, 美国版权的演变, 商标, 专利法并不是种族中立的, and has been greatly impacted by how we understand American citizenship.
此外，Vats还认为，美国政府应该采取行动.S. 知识产权法继续受到种族排外类别的影响, as evidenced by well-documented and publicized controversies over music, 药品, 传统知识. 一个关键因素, 根据Vats, is an underlying national belief that milestones like the civil rights movement and the election of Barack Obama made America into a post-racial, “色盲”的社会.
传播学副教授Anjali大桶
Addressing copyright, 商标, and patent 法律 over a period of 200 years, 造物主的颜色 旨在“了解种族在这些法律空间中如何随着时间的推移而运作, 跨越了所谓的种族进步时代,瓦茨说。, an associate professor of communication and African and African Diaspora Studies, 波士顿大学法学院的礼遇. “What we see are the same ideas about race repeated over time: People of color are formally excluded as knowledge creators.
“我的目的是想知道IP讲述了什么样的故事, 在这里我们看到种族, 以及在教义决定的背景下种族是什么样子,瓦茨说。, 谁教种族方面的课程, 修辞, 法律, 以及媒体电子游戏正规平台. “因为如果我们谈论的是知识产权法, 这涉及到法律测试, 如果法院适用这些法律测试, they should theoretically get race-neutral or racially colorblind outcomes. 但在实践中，法律并不是这样运作的. 有色人种似乎处于不利地位.”
Vats examines what she calls “intellectual property citizenship”: that the logic of racism and IP 法律—and the outcome of IP decisions—is best understood in terms of who is viewed as a good or bad “IP citizen.随着时间的推移, 她解释说, the figure of the white inventor or innovator has been integrated into the national ideology as a crucial contributor to the nation’s moral and economic development—a good IP citizen.
说明知识产权公民, Vats cites a 2018 federal appeals court decision upholding a copyright infringement verdict against white singer Robin Thicke, 还有制作人Pharrell Williams和制作人兼说唱歌手T.I. (小克利福德·哈里斯).)—both of whom are Black—over Thicke’s controversial 2013 song, “Blurred Lines.” The court agreed that the song was copied from the late Marvin Gaye’s 1977 classic “Got to 给 It Up.” Jurors originally awarded Gaye’s family more than $7 million; the award was later trimmed to a still-historic $5.300万年.
这似乎是一个积极的结果, 瓦茨说, 被指控在《电子游戏正规平台》中宣扬厌女症,被认为是“坏”的知识产权公民，因为他借用了盖伊的东西, 他是美国黑人和民权运动的象征, 谁会成为这个案子的核心. 但是法瑞尔和T.I. 作为知识产权公民被有效地“抹去”了吗, 她说, and the supposed redemption of Gaye overlooks his troubled history with women and contentious views on gender politics.
“Part of the reason Gaye ‘wins’ is because he stands for the success of the civil rights movement and the validity of colorblindness in America, 即使他有恶魔，我们也不能完全排除,瓦茨说。. “简而言之，这很复杂，尽管我们认为这是一个干净的案例.”
Another case study addresses 商标s in a period of post-racial creatorship. 一个所有亚洲, Oregon-based rock band called The Slants sought to protect its name and filed for 商标 protection, 但是美国.S. 专利 & 商标局拒绝, citing the Urban Dictionary definition of “slants” as racist and the federal statute that prohibits protection for disparaging 商标s. 该组织提起了诉讼, 最高法院最终做出了有利于倾斜夫妇的裁决, saying denial of the band’s registration rights was content-based discrimination under the First Amendment, 因此是违宪的.
The decision effectively halted an attempt by five Native Americans to bring suit under the disparaging-商标 clause against the National Football League’s Washington team, which used “Redskins” as its name and mascot despite the objection of many Native Americans. Although Washington subsequently announced it would drop “Redskins” and will decide on a new name in 2021, the case is troubling because it demonstrates that post-racial ideology implicates all areas of 法律, 有时还会产生“分治时刻”,瓦茨说.
“知识产权法本身就是为了保护白人, 让有色人种互相对立, 就像“模糊界限”案一样,她解释道. “最后, 土著居民赢了，并不是因为知识产权法发生了变化, 然而, 而是因为保留“红人队”的名字既昂贵又笨拙. Relying on the market to produce anti-racism is a dangerous strategy that historically ends in more racism. So I would argue that although we got a good outcome, it didn’t happen through a sound process.”
“There are entire cultural narratives getting erased by unscrupulous and illegal IP practices. 尽管我们有看似种族中立的法律, 有一种是有害的, false conviction that people of color are less creative and less expert. We must ‘decolonialize’—by which I mean unseating the stubborn and deceitful belief that people of color are not ‘full people’ who are capable of creating intellectual property.”
从历史上看, 根据Vats, patents have served as “explicit and implicit mediators of national conversations about citizenship, 人格, 和奴役,” particularly given “America’s desire to articulate its identity around work ethic, 聪明才智, 发现, 和进步,” a characterization she credits to Northeastern University 法律 professor Jessica W. 他把专利案件称为“这个国家的起源故事”.”
我们对构成“美国性”的许多意象,瓦茨说。, 与“我们是创新的?, 有很多想法的粗犷的人. So patent 法律 becomes a central element of not only the mythos of American identity—the unique creativity of Americans—but also the American dream.”
不幸的是, 她说, 这种心态导致了所谓的“生物勘探”和“生物剽窃”,” where scientists in the West have been awarded patents for medications and applications based on effective treatments or solutions created by indigenous peoples from inexpensive natural sources—and costing exponentially far more than the original remedies.
但也有人反对, 她指出:印度对文化挪用作出了反应, and economic exploitation of yoga by the West by creating a database which catalogues indigenous knowledge and blocks patents.
“如果我们想要重塑我们对IP的看法, 我们必须能够谈论种族在其中的运作方式,瓦茨说。. “批判种族理论向我们展示了种族在法律中的固化, 这种形式上的平等可能会引发种族主义, 这就是我们要解决的问题.
“我希望我们开始把问这个问题作为一种练习, “我们如何以更加种族公正的方式重写政策?? 我们如何与知识产权法合作来打破它? “知识产权逃犯”是什么意思??
“Then we need to change the stories that we tell about race in the context of IP 法律,” 她说. “There are entire cultural narratives getting erased by unscrupulous and illegal IP practices. 尽管我们有看似种族中立的法律, 有一种是有害的, false conviction that people of color are less creative and less expert. We must ‘decolonialize’—by which I mean unseating the stubborn and deceitful belief that people of color are not ‘full people’ who are capable of creating intellectual property.”
Phil Gloudemans |大学传播| 2020年12月