Vol. 2. - 472 p.

The chapters in this book are based on papers presented at a symposium entitled ‘Feist, Facts, and Functions: IP Protection for Works Beyond Entertainment’, which was held in Washington, DC on 28 September 2007. The symposium was co-sponsored by The George Washington University Law School and the Software and Information Industry Association. For their support of the project, I would like to thank Frederick M. Lawrence, the Dean of the Law School; Michael Ryan, Director of the Law School’s Creative and Innovative Economy Center; Ken Wasch, President of the Software and Information Industry Association; and Keith Kupferschmid, Senior Vice President of the Association. For their aid in organizing and staffing the event, I would like to thank Sarah Huisentruit Orye, Shauna Eisenberg, and Thomas Lee of the Creative and Innovative Economy Center. For his superlative assistance in compiling the indices, I would like to thank David Yung Ho Kim, whose work was generously supported by the Cardozo Law School during my visit there in the Spring of 2009; for his timely support in finalizing the indices, I would like to thank Thomas Mittenzwei. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank the participants in the Symposium for their presentations and for their subsequent contributions to this volume, from which I have learned a great deal.

In Legal Pragmatism, Michael Sullivan looks closely at the place of the individual and community in democratic society. After mapping out a brief history of American legal thinking regarding rights, from communitarianism to liberalism, Sullivan gives a rich and nuanced account of how pragmatism worked to resolve conflicts of self-interest and community well-being. Sullivan's view of pragmatism provides a comprehensive framework for understanding democracy, as well as issues such as health care, education, gay marriage, and illegal immigration that will determine its character in the future. Legal Pragmatism is a bold, carefully argued book that presents a unique understanding of contemporary society, law, and politics.

The first comprehensive critical history of SF for thirty years, this book traces the origin and development of science fiction from Ancient Greece, via its rebirth in the seventeenth century, up to the present day. Concentrating on literary SF and (in the later chapters) cinema and TV, it also discusses the myriad forms this genre takes in the contemporary world, including a chapter on graphic novels, SF pop music, visual art and ufology. The author is ideally placed to write it: both an academic literary critic and also an acclaimed creative writer of science fiction, with five novels and many short stories to his credit. Written in lively, accessible prose, this study is specifically designed to bridge the worlds of academic criticism and the SF fandom.

In every form of artistic expression there is passion, and a need to tell a story, convey an idea, or project an ideal. To be in a position to express these concepts and have the tools and foresight to communicate parallel to, or beyond one's vision, is the goal of every artist. It is in the drive of the artist where the vision receives a soul, and in the manipulation of materials where it acquires a body. Society is often measured by the level of sophistication captured in its artistic expression, and can serve as the scale from which its path is plotted. This quest to keep moving forward, not content to rest too long in the imagery and visions of those before, is what keeps the wheels of innovation and collective development spinning. It is a course that while fanning and extending outward like the branches of an immense tree always has roots referring back to its origin. The visions of worlds, tools, spaces, and methods of conveyance not yet known, are all part of the internal dialogue of the concept artist. It is this ability to step outside of one's present condition and provide a voice to the hypothetical future that places them in a distinct position; one where their understanding of technology, expression of art and method of communication result in the objects and environments that provide influence on modern societies' daily experience. In the end, art’s role is not to be amusing either for the artist or the audience…it’s to interpret life, in the past, the present — and the future.