Inventing Publics: Kairos & Intellectual Property Law

Christine Harold explored the possibilities of the “open content” movement, specifically the licensing model offered by Creative Commons, as a productive alternative to other prevalent responses to the corporate hoarding of cultural resources. As she argues in her recent book OurSpace: Resisting the Corporate Control of Culture, rather than engaging commercial culture dialectically, an open content approach serves as a provocation to commercialism by amplifying certain market logics and, in doing so, undermines concepts such as “author” and “property” on which corporate power depends.

About Christine

Christine Harold, Assistant Professor, joined the faculty in 2007. She teaches courses in rhetorical criticism and theory, and cultural studies. Her research explores opportunities for meaningful political action in a world increasingly defined by the logics and rhetorics of the marketplace. Her book, OurSpace: Resisting the Corporate Control of Culture (University of Minnesota Press, 2007) examines “culture jamming” as a response to corporate power. Among other venues, her work has appeared in Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Critical Studies in Media Communication, and JAC. She is currently at work on a book about the intersections between product design, mass consumption, and environmental sustainability. Dr. Harold serves on the editorial boards of the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Western Journal of Communication, and Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies.

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