Intellectual Property and the Question of the Archive

Abstract

Much of the peculiarity of recent historical research in intellectual property (IP) lies in the distinct use of the archive as a medium through which to explore its different pasts. The chapter briefly explores several projects that materialized through specific uses of archives, showing their creative possibilities, constraints, and limitations. It considers document-driven projects on primary and secondary sources, the materiality of many aspects of IP, and the use of oral histories to capture (or record) the ephemerality of those histories by converting them into new resources or applications. In doing so, the chapter reflects on the archive not only as a historical medium but also as a theoretical operation which shapes the ways in which we look at IP law and its histories.