Who Owns Culture?: Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law

Scafidi (law and history, Southern Methodist U.) makes the very telling point that cultural groups may very well have the right to claim ownership over their own creations, asking why the US will protect property such as literature from appropriation but not folklore. She covers the ways bits of other cultures come to America or are forcibly taken, the economics behind appropriation, and the emerging legal framework whereby cultural products are protected as is any other intellectual property. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR