Keith Aoki

{{Infobox biography

| birth_date = {{Birth year|1955}}

| death_date = {{Death date|2011|04|26}}

| nationality = America

| alma_mater = UC Davis School of Law and University of Oregon School of Law

| occupation = Law professor and author

| notable_works = * Bound by Law? Tales from the Public Domain

| style = Comic book

}}

{{Short description|American law professor}}

Keith Aoki (1955 – April 26, 2011) was an American law professor who served on the faculty of University of California, Davis School of Law and the University of Oregon School of Law. He co-authored the nonfiction graphic novels Bound by Law? Tales from the Public Domain, which explains copyright law and the doctrine of fair use, and he was a co-author of Theft: A History of Music,{{cite web|url=http://www.thepublicdomain.org |title=Theft: A History of Music |website=The Public Domain | date = February 14, 2017 | access-date=June 3, 2022}} both in collaboration with the Center for the Study of the Public Domain at the Duke University School of Law. His scholarship covered topics such as intellectual property, racial equality, and immigration reform. His work was covered in memorial tributes in the law reviews where he had taughtUC Davis Law Review, Volume 45, Number 5, June 2012: Super Aoki - A tribute to Keith AokiOregon Law Review, Volume 90, Number 5, 2012: Symposium (Un)Bound by Law: Keith Aoki Memorial Symposium and by other colleagues.Hing, Bill Ong. "Superman Had Nothing on Keith Aoki." UCLA Asian Pac. Am. LJ 17 (2011): 148.

Education and law career

Aoki studied art at Wayne State University and Hunter College.{{cite web |url=https://law.ucdavis.edu/faculty/aoki/ |title=UC Davis School of Law - Faculty & Administration - aoki - Keith Aoki |website=Law.ucdavis.edu |date=2011-04-26 |accessdate=2016-09-11 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Changing fields to law he studied at Harvard Law School and the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Aoki may have been responsible for coining the word "paracopyright"{{cite web|author= |url=http://wordspy.com/index.php?word=paracopyright |title=paracopyright |publisher=Word Spy |date= |accessdate=2016-09-11}} in a 1997 letter of concern about the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

He wrote extensively about racial issues and immigration. In his personal life, Aoki's father was affected by the Japanese American internment: during World War II, his "father was interned at the Gila River camp in Arizona" during World War II.In Spirit of Healing, Residents Remember Wartime Camps by Greg Bolt, The Register Guard (Eugene, OR). February 19, 2002.

Art

Aoki's art has been shown in retrospectives about Detroit and its artists such as the "Another Look at Detroit" exhibit shown in Chelsea, New York City{{cite web|url=http://artcollection.wayne.edu/newsletter.pdf |title=ART COLLECTION NEWSLETTER |date=2015 |website=Artcollection.wayne.edu |accessdate=2016-09-11}}{{cite web|author= |url=http://marlboroughchelsea.com/chelsea/exhibitions/another-look-at-detroit |title=Another Look at Detroit |publisher=Marlborough Chelsea |date= |accessdate=2016-09-11}}{{cite web|url=http://www.marianneboeskygallery.com/exhibitions/another-look-at-detroit-parts-1-and-2-curated-by-todd-levin-and-in-collaboration-with-marlborough-chelsea/pressRelease |title=Another Look at Detroit: Parts 1 and 2, curated by Todd Levin and in collaboration with Marlborough Chelsea - Exhibitions - Marianne Boesky |accessdate=2015-01-08 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113225825/http://www.marianneboeskygallery.com/exhibitions/another-look-at-detroit-parts-1-and-2-curated-by-todd-levin-and-in-collaboration-with-marlborough-chelsea/pressRelease |archivedate=2015-01-13 }} and the "Subverting Modernism: Cass Corridor Revisited 1966-1980"{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/emu-subverting-modernism/ |title=EMU's 'Subverting Modernism' exhibit offers fascinating look at Cass Corridor art |website=Annarbor.com |date=2013-04-03 |accessdate=2016-09-11}}

Wayne State University where he was a student holds some of his work,{{cite web|url=http://artcollection.wayne.edu/picture-of-the-week.php?id=100 |title=Picture of the Week - University Art Collection - Wayne State University |website=Artcollection.wayne.edu |date= |accessdate=2016-09-11}}{{cite web|url=http://artcollection.wayne.edu/picture-of-the-week.php?id=139 |title=Picture of the Week - University Art Collection - Wayne State University |website=Artcollection.wayne.edu |date= |accessdate=2016-09-11}}{{Cite web|url=http://artcollection.wayne.edu/picture-of-the-week.php?id=331|title=Picture of the Week - University Art Collection - Wayne State University|last=System|first=WCS Content Management|website=artcollection.wayne.edu|access-date=2017-03-11}}{{cite web|url=http://artcollection.wayne.edu/publications/time_and_place_-_web.pdf |title=Time and Place : Art of Detroit's Cass Corridor from the Wayne State University Collection |website=Artcollection.wayne.edu |accessdate=2016-09-11}} which has been showcased in "Up from the streets: Detroit art from the Duffy warehouse collection""Up from the streets: Detroit art from the Duffy warehouse collection" Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Wayne State University, 2001, page 59

Prominent works

  • Seed Wars: Controversies And Cases On Plant Genetic Resources And Intellectual Property, by Keith Aoki. NC: Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 2008. 280pp. {{ISBN|9781594600500}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/aoki0708.htm |title=Seed Wars |accessdate=2011-05-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110502145913/http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/aoki0708.htm |archivedate=2011-05-02 }}
  • Race, Space, and Place
  • (In)visible Cities: Three Local Government Models and Immigration Regulation (co-authored, 2008)
  • Is Chan Still Missing? An Essay About the Film Snow Falling on Cedars and Representations of Asian Americans in U.S. Films (2001)

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

Bibliography

  • Loss of a Legend by David Pluviose, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, June 9, 2011.