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andrewgilden.bsky.social
@andrewgilden.bsky.social
420 followers 700 following 14 posts
Professor: law & technology, queer theory, pleasure activism
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andrewgilden.bsky.social
Final version of my article, Pleasure & Pain in Intellectual Property, now published in William & Mary Law Review! wmlawreview.org/pleasure-pai...
Intellectual property produces pleasure. IP laws incentivize investment in popular culture, helping to ensure the viability of entertainment industries and the steady production of our favorite shows, cherished brands, and beloved celebrities. Across IP-heavy industries, creators cite the joy of writing, composing, coding, and experimenting as a motivation for countless hours in the office, studio, or lab. Nonetheless, in a broad range of settings, and across several areas of IP, courts have responded with hostility to personal accounts of pleasure in IP disputes. When a defendant admits to using IP because they are fans of the plaintiff, or because they wanted to share their love of popular culture, or because it was simply alot of fun, courts cite such admissions as reasons for ruling against them. By contrast, when parties to IP disputes cite not to joy, pleasure, or fandom, but instead to anger, pain, and adversity, courts are far more receptive to such motivations for copying. When a defendant asserts that they copied aspects of the plaintiff’s work or brand because they felt alienated by it, or because they wanted to ridicule it, or because they wanted to insult the rightsholder, courts have embraced such motives as supporting fair use and free speech defenses. While sanctioning painful narratives may help artists expose the biases embedded in much popular culture, the judicial privileging of pain also has facilitated disempowering, mocking, blatantly hateful, or intentionally harassing portrayals of vulnerable individuals and communities. Moreover, by privileging pain over pleasure, IP law has limited the ability of marginalized groups—especially women, people of color, and queer people—to share their joy publicly. This Article shows that courts routinely undervalue pleasure and overvalue pain when resolving IP disputes. This “pleasure taboo” discourages honesty in litigation, disconnects IP doctrine from real-world creative practices, and skews IP’s moral compass. Insults and derision emerge as archetypes of fair use and free speech, while fandom and joy become commodities for rightsholders to harvest and control.
November 15, 2025 at 11:40 PM
andrewgilden.bsky.social
Time to set up the Gay Church for Sex-Positive Parents of Gender Fluid Kids #scotus
June 27, 2025 at 3:54 PM
andrewgilden.bsky.social
New paper: Pleasure & Pain in Intellectual Property, forthcoming in William & Mary Law Review 🥳

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Intellectual property produces pleasure. IP laws incentivize investment in popular culture, helping to ensure the viability of entertainment industries and the steady production of our favorite shows, cherished brands, and beloved celebrities. Across IP-heavy industries, creators cite the joy of writing, composing, coding, and experimenting as a motivation for countless hours in the office, studio, or lab. Nonetheless, in a broad range of settings, and across several areas of IP, courts have responded with hostility to personal accounts of pleasure in IP disputes. When a defendant admits to using IP because they are fans of the plaintiff, or because they wanted to share their love of popular culture, or because it was simply a lot of fun, courts cite such admissions as reasons for ruling against them. By contrast, where parties to IP disputes cite not to joy, pleasure, or fandom, but instead to anger, pain, and adversity, courts are far more receptive to such motivations for copying. When a defendant asserts that they copied aspects of the plaintiff’s work or brand because they felt alienated by it, or because they wanted to ridicule it, or because they wanted to insult the rightsholder, courts have embraced such motives as supporting fair use and free speech defenses. While sanctioning painful narratives may help artists expose the biases embedded in much popular culture, the judicial privileging of pain also has facilitated disempowering, mocking, blatantly hateful, or intentionally harassing portrayals of vulnerable individuals and communities. Moreover, by privileging pain over pleasure, IP law has limited the ability of marginalized groups—especially women, people of color, and queer people—to share their joy publicly. This Article shows that courts routinely undervalue pleasure and overvalue pain when resolving IP disputes. This “pleasure taboo” discourages honesty in litigation, disconnects IP doctrine from real-world creative practices, and skews IP’s mora…
April 29, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted
enbrown.bsky.social
States are moving in the wrong direction on prostitution laws reason.com/2025/03/26/t...

12 states are mulling harsher penalties for trying to pay for sex

Many of the proposals would raise it from a misdemeanor to a felony. Some would make those convicted register as sex offenders.
States are moving in the wrong direction on prostitution laws
The arc of history is weird: Here we are, over 50 years after whatever it was that people call the sexual revolution, long past the anti-porn crusade of
reason.com
March 26, 2025 at 6:00 PM
andrewgilden.bsky.social
It’s giving Blackstone
Blackstone says: "Lastly, a common scold-'communis rix-atrix'-(for our law Latin confines it to the feminine gender,) is a public nuisance to her neighborhood, for which offence she may be indicted
March 9, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Reposted
mikestabile.bsky.social
A new bill by OK's Dusty Deevers criminalizes drag in public, with mandatory prison time. The bill, SB550, uses "harmful to minors" designation — the same language being used to ban adult sites via age-verification.

SB550 has passed out of committee and headed for a full Senate vote.
Oklahoma bill barring drag performances harmful to minors advances out of committee • Oklahoma Voice
State senators on Tuesday greenlighted a controversial bill that could make Oklahoma the latest state to attempt to ban children from watching drag and cabaret performances deemed harmful to minors.
oklahomavoice.com
February 14, 2025 at 6:52 PM
andrewgilden.bsky.social
Such a powerful, joyous event. So excited to be in LA!
The Grammy Looks Bring a Welcome Hit of Joy (Gift Article)
Sometimes a red carpet is just a marketing opportunity, but sometimes it’s a statement of faith.
www.nytimes.com
February 3, 2025 at 6:03 PM
andrewgilden.bsky.social
Last night I dipped into queer twitter to see reactions to the (incredible) Grammys--the outpouring of joy drowned out the national politics for the first time in awhile. Was a reminder of the shared joy that platform has provided, and the potential for resilience in the face of Mr. Tesla.
February 3, 2025 at 5:48 PM
andrewgilden.bsky.social
Honored to kick off Rutgers Year of the Arts today with my talk "How IP Law Shapes Popular Culture and the Creative Process." I will be discussing my research on pleasure in the IP system and the importance of diverse pleasure narratives in pop culture. Joy is power!

go.rutgers.edu/izuorre9
Andrew Gilden to Present “How IP Law Shapes Popular Culture and the Creative Process” on Feb. 3 – Faculty of Arts and Sciences
go.rutgers.edu
February 3, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted
erininthemorning.com
This is my favorite picture of Stonewall.

They knew they were getting arrested just for being LGBTQ+.

Yet... they're still here, standing outside of the boarded up Stonewall Inn, smiling as the world was at a fever pitch of hatred against them.

I think about it a lot in moments like this.
January 29, 2025 at 3:18 AM
andrewgilden.bsky.social
If you see this, post a fictional band you would love to see live
January 27, 2025 at 4:00 PM
andrewgilden.bsky.social
A reminder that we have a ~20 yo circuit split on whether “obscene device” laws are constitutional.
mikestabile.bsky.social Mike Stabile @mikestabile.bsky.social · Dec 17
A Texas legislator has called for a ban on the sale of "obscene devices" such as vibrators, in any non-adult store, such as CVS. Meaning you'd have to go to a stripclub or porn shop.

She calls it "part of a coordinated effort to normalize the sexualization of children"

www.khou.com/article/news...
New bill would ban sex toys from major retailers in Texas, including Walmart and Target
In a bill introduced by newly-elected Republican Rep. Hillary Hickland, she calls the devices "obscene" and wants a law limiting where they're sold.
www.khou.com
December 17, 2024 at 6:01 PM
andrewgilden.bsky.social
Join me and a bunch of other sexuality, gender & law scholars at UC Irvine in February! Deadline for proposals is Dec 15.

docs.google.com/document/d/1...
WCSGL 2025 Call for Papers
Second Annual West Coast Sexuality, Gender and & Law Conference Call for Papers and Commentators Abstract Submission Deadline: December 15, 2024, 11:59 PM Pacific Submission Portal *Please note ...
docs.google.com
December 11, 2024 at 8:54 PM
andrewgilden.bsky.social
Excited to share my new article with @sarahrajec.bsky.social: Patenting the Taboo: Sex, Drugs, and Abortion, forthcoming in Yale Journal of Law & Technology. Feedback welcome!

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
December 2, 2024 at 8:04 PM
Reposted
mikestabile.bsky.social
“A personal injury law firm is actively courting plaintiffs in Kansas, using the state’s age-verification law to dangle the prospect of large financial judgments from adult companies. The firm is employing church networks to reach potential plaintiffs.” www.freespeechcoalition.com/blog/attorne...
Attorneys in Kansas Seeking Plaintiffs to Sue Adult Companies — Free Speech Coalition
A personal injury law firm is actively courting potential plaintiffs in Kansas, using the state’s age-verification law to dangle the prospect of large financial judgments from adult companies. The fir...
www.freespeechcoalition.com
November 13, 2024 at 3:19 PM