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James Boyle (legal scholar)

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James Boyle
Boyle in 2008
Born1959 (age 65)
Scotland
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
Education
OccupationsLegal academic and author
EmployerDuke University School of Law
Known forCreative Commons
Notable work
  • Shamans, Software and Spleens
  • Bound by Law?
  • The Public Domain
  • Theft: A History of Music
TitleWilliam Neal Reynolds Professor of Law
AwardsDuke Bar Association Distinguished Teaching Award
Website

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.

Teaching and activism

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Boyle graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1980 and subsequently studied at Harvard Law School where he earned both his LL.M (1981) and S.J.D. (1986).[1][3] He joined Duke University School of Law in July 2000. [4] Prior to Duke, Boyle previously taught at American University, Yale, Harvard, Boston University, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

In 2002, he was one of the founding board members of Creative Commons,[5] and held the position of Chairman of the Board in 2009, after which he stepped down.[6][4] 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.[7]

In 2006, he earned the Duke Bar Association Distinguished Teaching Award.[4]

Courses he has taught include "Intellectual Property", "The Constitution in Cyberspace", "Law and Literature", "Jurisprudence", and "Torts".[4]

Written works

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He is the author of The Line: AI & The Future of Personhood,[8] Shamans, Software and Spleens: Law and Construction of the Information Society[9] as well as a novel published under a Creative Commons license, The Shakespeare Chronicles.[10][11]

Boyle is also the author of two graphic novels Bound by Law and Theft: A History of Music[3]

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.[12] It was also published under a non-commercial CC BY-NC-SA Creative Commons license.[13]

He also wrote "The Second Enclosure Movement and the Construction of the Public Domain," a 2003 article in which he compared the expansion of intellectual property rights to the historical enclosure of commonly held land and argued for greater recognition of the importance of the public domain.[14]

Boyle also contributed 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.[15]

Awards

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He has been the recipient of multiple awards including the Pioneer Award, Duke Bar Association Distinguished Teaching Award, and the World Technology Network Award.[3]

Donald McGannon Award (communications) and the American Society of Information Science and Technology Award's book of the year.[3]

Selected publications

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  • 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
  • The Unperson Of 2023
  • The Line: AI & The Future of Personhood, MIT Press 2024, ISBN 978-0262049160

References

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  1. 1 2 "Law School Profile: DUKE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW". martindale.com. Retrieved 12 October 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ↑ "People". Center for the Study of the Public Domain. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Provost, Office of the. "James Boyle | Office of the Provost". provost.duke.edu. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Biography at Duke University School of Law
  5. ↑ Amy Harmon (13 May 2002). "A New Direction for Intellectual Property". N.Y.Times. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ Biography on Boyle's official website. Retrieved 15 March 2009.
  8. ↑ Duke Law (28 October 2024). "James Boyle's new book The Line explores how AI is challenging our concepts of personhood". Duke Law News.
  9. ↑ Boyle, James (1997), Shamans, Software and Spleens: Law and Construction of the Information Society, Harvard University Press
  10. ↑ Boyle, James (2007), The Shakespeare Chronicles, Lulu Press
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ Boyle, James (2008), The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind, Yale University Press
  14. ↑ James, Boyle (2003). "The Second Enclosure Movement and the Construction of the Public Domain". Law and Contemporary Problems. 66 (1). ISSN 0023-9186.
  15. ↑ "(When) Is Copyright Reform Possible? Lessons from the Hargreaves Review" by James Boyle (2015)
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