Histories of early cinema often focus on technological, social, and aesthetic developments in the medium. But cinema also posed legal challenges throughout the world and continues to do so in the era of digital media and AI. The methods used to establish and defend copyright varied across national contexts and changed over time, shaping how films were circulated and preserved. This edited volume includes essays based on conference papers given at the 17th Domitor conference and includes case studies from a range of national, historical, and cultural contexts. 

The essays in this volume address an array of themes, including copyright and early intermediality, piracy and censorship, international distribution, infamy and defamation, and publicity, privacy, and rights to the image. Although these essays center the first decades of cinema, the rights they address continue to resonate today. Since intellectual property law is constantly struggling to stay abreast of technological innovation, this collection has special relevance in a new era of global production and digital technologies that is as momentous as the invention of cinema. Claiming, defining, and defending rights are returned to the spotlight as AI draws upon the past of cinema to shape its future.

Clara Auclair is Lecturer in European Humanities at DIS Stockholm.

Ian Christie is Professor Emeritus of Film and Media History at Birkbeck, University of London and a visiting tutor at the UK National Film and Television School (NFTS). 

Martin L. Johnson is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Tami Williams is Associate Professor of Film Studies and English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

Colin Williamson is Associate Professor of Cinema Studies at the University of Oregon.