First Chancellor's Chair lecture: Prof. Dan Burk on "Virtual Worlds, Virtual Property"
Online computer games have become an important part of the Internet society, attracting millions of players and creating virtual economies larger than those of many actual nations. Game developers are increasingly turning to copyright and other intellectual property laws to police behavior in these virtual worlds. But player communities also have a stake in the development of this digital culture. In this May 13 Chancellor's Chair lecture, Professor Dan L. Burk discussed the emerging relationship of copyright to computer games and the texts that surround them.
Dan L. Burk is Chancellor's Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, where he is a founding faculty member. Chancellor's Chairs are endowed positions awarded to a very small number of UCI professors across the campus who demonstrate unusual academic merit. An internationally prominent authority on issues related to high technology, Prof. Burk lectures, teaches and writes in the areas of patent, copyright, electronic commerce and biotechnology law. He is the author of numerous papers on the legal and societal impact of new technologies, including articles on scientific misconduct, on the regulation of biotechnology, and on the intellectual property implications of global computer networks. His latest work, "The Patent Crisis and How the Courts Can Solve It," co-authored by Stanford Law Professor Mark Lemley, was recently published by The University of Chicago Press.