The form of graffiti writing on trains and walls is not accidental. Nor is its absence on cars and houses. Employing a particular style of letters, choosing which walls and trains to write on, copying another writer, altering or destroying another writer's work: these acts are regulated within the graffiti subculture. Copyright Beyond Law presents findings from empirical research undertaken into the graffiti subculture to show that graffiti writers informally regulate their creativity through a system of norms that are remarkably similar to copyright. The 'graffiti rules' and their copyright law parallels include: the requirement of writing letters (subject matter) and appropriate placement (public policy and morality exceptions for copyright subsistence and the enforcement of copyright), originality and the prohibition of copying (originality and infringement by reproduction), and the prohibition of damage to another writer's works (the moral right of integrity). The intersection between the 'graffiti rules' and copyright law sheds light on the creation of subculture-specific commons and the limits of copyright law in incentivising and regulating the production and location of creativity.

What is the relationship between street art and the law? In A Philosophy Guide to Street Art and the Law, Andrea Baldini argues that street art has a constitutive relationship with the law. A crucial aspect of the identity of this urban art kind depends on its capacity to turn upside down dominant uses of public spaces. Street artists subvert those laws and social norms that regulate the city. Baldini shows that street art has not only transformed public spaces and their functions into artistic material, but has also turned its rebellious attitude toward the law into a creative resource. He aims at elucidating and arguing for this claim, while drawing important implications at the level of street art’s metaphysics, value, and relationship with rights of intellectual property, in particular copyright and moral rights. At the other end of the spectrum of contractual art, street art is outlaw art.

This is a detailed account of interpretative practices and the 'law in action' that draws lessons for the drafting of copyright exceptions.

Addresses the difficult question of how to determine the authorship, and ownership, of copyright in highly collaborative works.

'Copyright law has always somehow managed to adapt to new technological and social developments as well as to new artistic and creative practices. However, every time such a development occurs, the legitimate question arises if the system is adaptable or if the breakthrough is so gigantic that a new system needs to be elaborated. In any case, new scholarly reflections are needed in regular intervals and that is exactly the purpose of this fascinating edited collection by Enrico Bonadio and Nicola Lucchi on non-conventional copyright, exploring from various angles the copyright issues of all sorts of creations ranging from unconventional art forms, new music and atypical cultural practices to new advances in technology, not forgetting to investigate the delicate issues around copyright on illegal and immoral works.' - Christophe Geiger, University of Strasbourg, France Copyright law constantly evolves to keep up with societal changes and technological advances. Contemporary forms of creativity can threaten the comfortable conceptions of copyright law as creative people continually find new ways of expressing themselves. In this context, Non-Conventional Copyrightidentifies possible new spaces for copyright protection. With current copyright law in mind, the contributions explore if the law should be more flexible as to whether new or unconventional forms of expression - including graffiti, tattoos, land art, conceptual art and bio art, engineered DNA, sport movements, jokes, magic tricks, DJ sets, perfume making, typefaces, or illegal and immoral works - deserve protection. Vitally, the contributors suggest that it may be time to challenge some of the basic tenets of copyright laws by embracing more flexible ways to identify protectable works and interpret the current requirements for protection. Additionally, some contributors cast doubts about whether copyright is the right instrument to address and regulate these forms of expression. Contemporary in topic, this thought-provoking book will be essential reading for intellectual property law scholars, practitioners and policymakers. Creative people and those involved in the creative industries will also find this book an engaging read. Contributors include: E. Bonadio, S. Burke, C. Cronin, T. Dagne, T.W. Dornis, F.J. Dougherty, T.M. Gates, M.P. George, E. Haber, S. Karapapa, Y.M. King, T. Iverson, N. Lucchi, G. Mazziotti, J. McCutcheon, L. McDonagh, M. Maggiore, P. Mezei, M. Mimler, A.G. Scaria, C.Y.N. Smith, X. Tang

This work provides a full and clear exposition of the fundamentals of intellectual property law in the UK. It combines excerpts from cases and a broad range of secondary works with insightful commentary from the authors which will situate the law within a wider international, comparative and political context.

This intriguing collection of essays by David Nelken examines the relationship between law, society and social theory and the various ideas social theorists have had about the actual and ideal 'fit' between law and its social context. It also asks how far it is possible to get beyond this mainstream paradigm. The value of social theorising for studying law is illustrated by specific developments in substantive areas such as housing law, tort law, the law of evidence and criminal law. Throughout the chapters the focus is on the following questions. What is gained (and what may be lost) by putting law in context? What attempts have been made to go beyond this approach? What are their (necessary) limits? Can law be seen as anything other than in some way both separate from and relating to 'the social'? The distinctiveness of this approach lies in its effort to keep in tension two claims. Firstly, that social theorising about legal practices is vitally important for understanding the connections between legal and social structures and revealing what law means and does for (and to) various social actors. The second point is that it does not follow that what we learn in this way can be assumed to be necessarily relevant to (re)shaping legal practices without further argument that pays heed to law's specificity.

Part of a series which explores contemporary sociological issues, this volume examines criminal justice policy and politics in the UK, looking to their development into the 1990s.

In this book, William Brant uncovers social causes of violence, in search of reductive measures. Multiple legal systems are explored as reducers and implementers of violence and threats, especially criminal justice systems. War, propagandizing, power, corporate and governmental involvement in social domination, statehood, dangerous ideologies, and tribal sexual domination are explored in many cultures. Various levels and methods are given for observing, measuring and analyzing how people think and behave regarding the law, including examples of comedy. A theoretical chapter presents legal theory in relation to conceptions of possibility and misconceptions. These ideas are applied to judiciaries, which expose winning strategies for lawyers’ desired verdicts. Dr. Brant accounts for the interconnections between sexual selection, legal systems and wars.

Contributions to Law, Philosophy and Ecology: Exploring Re-Embodiments is a preliminary contribution to the establishment of re-embodiments as a theoretical strand within legal and ecological theory, and philosophy. Re-embodiments are all those contemporary practices and processes that exceed the epistemic horizon of modernity. As such, they offer a plurality of alternative modes of theory and practice that seek to counteract the ecocidal tendencies of the Anthropocene. The collection comprises eleven contributions approaching re-embodiments from a multiplicity of fields, including legal theory, eco-philosophy, eco-feminism and anthropology. The contributions are organized into three parts: ‘Beyond Modernity’, ‘The Sacred Dimension’ and ‘The Legal Dimension’. The collection is opened by a comprehensive introduction that situates re-embodiments in theoretical context. Whilst closely bound with embodiment and new materialist theory, this book contributes a unique voice that echoes diverse political processes contemporaneous to our times. Written in an elegant and accessible language, the book will appeal to undergraduates, postgraduates and established scholars alike seeking to understand and take re-embodiments further, both politically and theoretically.