Landmarks of IP: 2021 ISHTIP conference online

Hosted and organized by CIPPM, the 12th Annual Workshop of the International Society for the History and Theory of Intellectual Property (ISHTIP) “Landmarks of IP” will be held online from 12 to 15 July 2021. Please check the ISHTIP 2021 Conference website for news. updates and to register to the panels.

The 2021 ISHTIP Conference: Landmarks of Intellectual Property

After hosting its annual workshop in 2019 in the location that is home to the largest natural harbour in the world, Sydney, and after a gap year due to global pandemic, ISHTIP will host its 12th annual workshop from 12th to 15th of July 2021 in the second largest natural harbour in the world: Poole, UK—home to Bournemouth University (well, at least virtually. Please keep looking at the picture below for appreciation).

This year’s theme, Landmarks of Intellectual Property, is inspired by its county Dorset, which is known for the Jurassic Coast, World Heritage Site on the English Channel southern coast of England, which stretches across 95 miles, and which features the natural limestone landmark Durdle Door.

Image by Roman Grac from Pixabay

The 2021 workshop will explore the contemporary relevance of the landmarks of intellectual property. These include challenging or questioning (the idea of) landmarks of IP; proposing new ones; or highlighting unsung ones, be they milestones, vantage points, beacons, breakthroughs, events, turning points, or anniversaries. Contributions will also critique dominant frameworks or theories, thus putting into perspective the significance of such turning points by highlighting the role of historical contingencies, discontinuities and cultural difference.

Programme overview

The conference will run from Monday 12 July, 12:00 (British Summer Ttime) to Thursday 15 July, featuring six panels and overall 17 presentations. Please see the full programme on the ISHTIP2021 website.

1. Owning the landmarks: cultural heritage, preservation and restitution – Monday 12 July 12:00 BST

  • Chair: Merima Bruncevic
  • Speakers: Vicky Breemen, Chijioke Ifeoma Okorie, Mathilde Pavis and Andrea Wallace
  • Discussants: Peter Jaszi and Martin Fredriksson

2. Exploring the borders of the IP land – Tuesday 13 July 12:00 BST

  • Chair: Fiona MacMillan
  • Speakers: Géraldine Blanche, Isabella Alexander, Anjali Vats,
  • Discussants: Toni Lester and Jose Bellido 

3. Landmarks of invention – Wednesday 14 July 12:00 BST

  • Chair: Kara Swanson
  • Speakers: Soumyajit Basu, Matthew David
  • Discussants: Brad Sherman and Stina Teilmann-Lock

4. The institutional dimension of IP landmarks – Wednesday 14 July 14:00 BST

  • Chair: Eva Hemmungs-Wirtén
  • Speakers: Zvi S. Rosen, Kara Swanson, Jingwen Guo
  • Discussants: Sara Bannerman and Simon Stern

5. Landmark IP values – Thursday 15 July 12:00 BST

  • Chair: Kathy Bowrey
  • Speakers: Jessica Silbey, Robin Wright, Marta Cernadas Lázare
  • Discussants: Marta Iljadica and Giovanni Maria Riccio

6. (Re)discovering copyright landmarks: Panel in honour of Martha Woodmansee – Thursday 15 July 14:00 BST

  • Chair: Maurizio Borghi
  • Speakers: Catherine Pocock, Graham Dutfield and Uma Suthersanen, Cristina S. Martinez
  • Discussants: Will Slauter and Martha Woodmansee

This last panel is dedicated to the work of Professor Martha Woodmansee, founding director of ISHTIP from 2008 to 2016. She has published landmark research at the intersection of aesthetics, cultural history, and copyright law, including The Author, Art, and the Market: Rereading the History of Aesthetics (Columbia University Press, 1996), The Construction of Authorship: Textual Appropriation in Law and Literature (ed. with Peter Jaszi) (Duke University Press, 1994) and Making and Unmaking Intellectual Property: Creative Production in Legal and Cultural Perspective (ed. with Mario Biagioli and Peter Jaszi) (The University of Chicago Press, 2011). Professor Woodmansee retired from Case Western University in 2019.

Registering to the event

For the ISHTIP 2021 workshop programme, click here. Registration is free and you can register for each panels separately.

If you have any questions, please refer to the organising committee.

We are looking forward to seeing you…on screen!