infoJustice

American University Washington College of Law’s Program and Information Justice and Intellectual Property and the American University International Law Review (“AUILR”) seek submissions for a AUILR Focus Issue on International and Comparative User Rights in the Digital Economy. A symposium for the issue will be held on March 18, 2016. Scholarships are available for accepted authors.

The Issue seeks articles exploring how law and policy can play a key role in breaking down barriers to full participation in the digital economy through expansions of user rights — the rights of users to access, use and transform digital content to further social, economic, cultural and political purposes. User rights can be found in diverse fields of law, including in human rights (e.g. the right to freedom of expression and opinion, the right to participate in cultural heritage, the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress, the right to privacy, the right to health), in limitations and exceptions and enforcement policies in intellectual property laws, in net neutrality and other communication industry regulation, in consumer and competition protection, in privacy rights — including those related to the capturing of user data, in contracts and terms of service, and through other laws that protect the rights of users of the digital economy and the content shared through it.

The Focus Issue seeks research for presentation and publication that contribute to understanding of the role of user rights in enabling social, economic and cultural development in the digital economy. Topics of particular interest include:

• Comparative experiences with the consideration, adoption or interpretation of user rights in domestic legal systems.
• Empirical, qualitative or methodological studies on the social, economic, cultural and political impact of user rights, including on the inclusion of marginalized groups in society.
• Comparative treatment of user rights in international agreements, including multilateral, regional and bilateral agreements.
• Comparative or normative studies on the impact of internet regulation in the formation of user rights, including exploration of tensions between such regulation and intellectual property exclusivity rights.
• Comparative or normative analysis of the role of human rights in the digital economy, including in bounding the excesses of the growing “enforcement agenda” in global intellectual property law.

Apply (By September 11) to join us at http://www.jotformpro.com/pijip/Call4Papers