Author: Stephen Paur

“The distinguishing characteristic of the modern author . . . is that he is a proprietor, that he is conceived as the originator and therefore the owner of a special kind of commodity, the ‘work.’” —Mark Rose, “The Author as Proprietor” “The idea that a text belongs naturally and uniquely to the person who wrote it has been much criticized over time for romanticizing writers, masking the collaborative nature of writing, and impoverishing the cultural commons.” —Deborah Brandt, “When People Write for Pay” Hyperlinks. Copy-paste. Two of the most common forms of digital circulation. And yet the political and economic…