Copyrighting God - Ownership of the Sacred in American Religion

By using copyright in sacred texts, American religious organizations help to create, manage, and control emerging spiritual communities.

List of contents

Introduction: owning the sacred; Part I. The Angelic Author and the Sacred Work: 1. Spirited possessions; 2. The angels' share; Part II. The Doctrines of Religion and Law: 3. Authorship and authority in intellectual property; 4. A market in prophecy; 5. Digital liability and the Church of Scientology; Conclusion: the afterlife of intellectual property.

About the author

Andrew Ventimiglia is a Research Fellow in the University of Queensland TC Beirne School of Law. He works in the areas of legal history, religious studies, and media studies, with a research focus on the history and cultural effects of intellectual property law. Ventimiglia was awarded a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from the University of California, Davis in 2015. He also holds an M.A. in Cinema Studies and a Certificate from the Culture and Media Program at New York University. Ventimiglia's work has appeared or is forthcoming in Cultural Critique and the Journal of the American Academy of Religion.

Summary

Copyrighting God provides the first detailed account of how American religious organizations - from Christian Science to the Church of Scientology - used copyright in sacred texts not simply for economic gain but also for social organization and control and, in doing so, sought to appropriate secular law for spiritual ends.

Product details

• Authors: Andrew Ventimiglia
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.01.2019
• EAN: 9781108430371
• ISBN: 978-1-108-43037-1
• No. of pages: 254
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Law > Public law, administrative procedural law, constitutional procedural law; Sociology, Cultural Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, LAW / Legal History, LAW / Intellectual Property / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Legal History, intellectual property law