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Book Review of "The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions" A Critical Pedagogy and Decolonial Analysis
No full textIn "The Ages of Globalization," Jeffrey D. Sachs presents a critical examination of the historical interactions between geography, technology, and institutions, challenging conventional narratives of global development that often prioritize Western perspectives. This book review engages with Sachs' work through the lenses of critical pedagogy and decolonial critiques, exploring how his insights can inform more equitable and contextually responsive educational practices. By delineating seven distinct ages of globalization, Sachs provides a framework for understanding the implications of global processes on education, particularly in the context of sustainable development and international partnerships. The review highlights the importance of recognizing diverse epistemological foundations and the need for educational systems to adapt to the complexities of a globalized world. Additionally, it discusses the accompanying course, "Ages of Globalization," which aims to deepen students' understanding of these themes through interactive learning experiences. The review underscores Sachs' call for education to serve as a catalyst for equity and sustainability, inviting educators and policymakers to foster innovative practices that empower future generations to address pressing global challenges
Queering Ervah: Halachic Conceptions of Gender-Based Nakedness for the Modern World
Get PDFThis paper examines rabbinic conceptions of ervah—the halachic category for nakedness—and explores their application to modern, egalitarian, queer, and gender-queer contexts. Ervah is defined through two basic paradigms: (1) the objective paradigm, where genitalia universally defines ervah regardless of gender or cultural norms, and (2) the subjective paradigm, where gender and cultural norms greatly influence the relegation of body attributes to this category. Drawing upon tannaitic, medieval, and modern halachic sources, the paper evaluates traditional positions on ervah using three paradigms of gender definition: (1) genotype, (2) genitalia, and (3) phenotype, considering each paradigm’s impact upon transgender and intersex individuals. Further, it considers two primary interpretive approaches: (1) gender-inflexible, which assumes an all-encompassing heteronormative, cisgender framework, and (2) gender-expansive, which prioritizes the individual viewers’ sexual orientation and agency over assumed norms. Ultimately, the paper argues for a more fluid, gender-expansive approach to defining halachic ervah.
*Please Note*: This paper was written for Professor Emmanuel Bloch's Jewish Theological Seminary course, Gender, Halachah, and The Emergence of Tsniut as a Halachic Categor
Bagels and Bongos: Locating American Klezmer in the 1950s
Get PDFKlezmer, traditional Jewish music, is widely imagined in two periods: pre-World War II and post-1970. Very little attention has been given to the space in between these two periods. This article sheds light on klezmer during this dormant period, problematizing the idea of a klezmer “revival” and reframing the timeline of Jewish music. It looks at data from the recording industry in the United States to survey the musicians, instruments, and musical styles present in klezmer records produced in the 1950s and form a picture of how the style was transmitted from the previous generation of musicians. Three recorded klezmer pieces are used as case studies, exemplifying three different trends in klezmer music at the time: old-fashioned nostalgic music (“Bessarabian Dance” from Freilachs For Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs And Other Celebrations recorded by Murray Lehrer and Dave Tarras), genre-blending dance music (“Mazeltov Merengue” in Bagels and Bongos recorded by the Irving Fields Trio), and parodies of popular American songs (“Sixteen Tons” in Mish Mosh recorded by Mickey Katz). Surveying these sources reveals an abundance of vibrant klezmer music drawing from multiple sources and serving multiple purposes in Jewish communities of the 1950s. Klezmer has been, from its inception, a style that incorporated local non-Jewish music styles, catered to the commercial market, and adapted to specific events and purposes in the community. The perceived death of klezmer in the 1950s was in reality the natural continuation of this process, as klezmer musicians incorporated new American music styles and adapted to playing in dance halls and on commercial records. An “Americanized” piece of klezmer music is no less authentic for its incorporation of other American cultures. The evolution of American klezmer was continuous through the 1950s, carrying klezmer from the arrival of the European-influenced genre in America to the modern scene of pop, funk, and electronic klezmer bands
Location Is All You Need: Copyright Extraterritoriality and Where to Train Your AI
Get PDFThe development of artificial intelligence (“AI”) models requires vast quantities of data, which will often include copyrighted materials. The reproduction of copyrighted materials in the course of training AI models will infringe on copyright, unless there are applicable exceptions and limitations exempting such activities. There is so far considerable divergence between jurisdictions, including between the United States, EU, U.K., Japan, Singapore, Australia, India, Israel, and many more countries, in this regard. In the absence of international harmonization, there is therefore a high likelihood that the same type of training activity would be considered copyright infringement in some countries but not in others.
The AI community is not blind to that risk. If copyright law restricts the development and deployment of AI, developers may decide to relocate their operations elsewhere, where the reproduction of training data is clearly not infringing. This Article concludes that there is a loophole in the international copyright system, as it currently stands, that would permit large-scale copying of training data in one country where this activity is not infringing. Once the training is done and the model is complete, developers could then make the model available to customers in other countries, even if the same training activities would have been infringing if they had occurred there. Because copyright laws are territorial in nature, by default they can only restrict infringing conduct occurring in their respective countries. From that point of view for AI developers, location is indeed all you need.
The EU has become the first to respond to this problem by retroactively extending their text and data mining exception extraterritorially to training activities occurring in non-EU countries, once the completed AI model is placed on the EU market. While such an extraterritorial application benefits rightholders and closes the loophole now present, it makes the situation significantly more complex for developers. If other regulators decide to follow the same path as the EU, which previously happened in the data privacy context, then developers would be facing multiple, conflicting copyright laws targeting the same underlying activity. This could significantly complicate the development process for AI and potentially undermine the AI industry. This Article critically discusses these and related issues, and whether an extraterritorial application of copyright laws is compatible with territoriality norms that are supposed to respect foreign sovereignty. It also explores, in light of these difficulties, whether we should instead shift focus from regulating the inputs (i.e., the data used to train AI models) to regulating the outputs (i.e., the AI-generated content itself). Indeed, to the extent that the transnational data loophole cannot be closed without infringing upon foreign sovereignty, we may need to look at other regulatory means instead.
The Article also suggests that we should consider model training and copyright infringement as a product-by-process problem, which calls for a comparison with how patent law solved similar extraterritoriality issues. Several decades ago, international patent treaties harmonized the extent to which patent laws can be applied extraterritorially to reach imported products derived from foreign manufacturing processes. If regulators wish to extend their copyright laws’ extraterritoriality to close the loophole that exists for training activities in the context of AI, and to do so in a way that is aligned with copyright territoriality, there may be a need to similarly revise international copyright treaties. This Article, therefore, urgently calls for a similarly coordinated international effort in copyright law, which balances the interests of rightholders with the technical, regulatory, and economic realities faced by developers. How we resolve these issues could make or break the future of AI. If we cannot find a way to reconcile the interests of rightholders and AI stakeholders, the world may be left with a segregated and fragmented AI landscape, one in which there can only be losers and no winners
A Neglected Armenian Source of the Late Umayyad Era: The Martyrdom of Vahan of Gołt‘n
No full textThe Armenian Martyrdom of Vahan of Gołt‘n, composed in 744 CE, offers a fresh perspective from which to study the Umayyad caliphate. A sophisticated literary composition assembled in a monastic context, the Martyrdom traces contemporary networks of power, communication, and knowledge within and beyond Armenia. As a product of the late Umayyad world, it constitutes a work of major significance for the study of the Umayyad caliphate at large and the caliphal North in particular during the first half of the eighth century. The Martyrdom reveals contemporary Armenian perceptions of Umayyad hegemony, including ʿaṭā (stipend) payments, public executions, conversions, apostasy, contemporary apologetics, and the nature of Caliph Hishām’s court at Ruṣāfa. At the same time, it portrays members of the Armenian elite, lay and clerical, reacting in different ways to new political circumstances. The present article provides the first annotated English translation and extensive thematic introduction to the Martyrdom of Vahan of Gołt‘n, with the aim of making the text accessible to Islamicists and thereby integrating this rich source into discussions of the late Umayyad era
Sense and Separability: Clarifying Star Athletica Amongst Lower Court Confusion
Get PDFCopyright law is designed to protect the artistic, the creative. For centuries, courts have been careful to avoid granting copyright protection to systems or processes better suited to patent protection. For instance, in a book explaining how to build a house, the text of the book as creative expression would be copyrightable. However, copyright protection would not extend to the actual system or process for building the house. This idea-expression dichotomy becomes more complicated in cases of useful articles with design elements. In the 1954 case Mazer v. Stein, the Supreme Court first addressed the need to physically and/or mentally separate the utilitarian and ornamental elements to determine which aspects, if any, may be copyrighted. This case led to the codification of separability in the Copyright Act of 1976; § 101 requires that a copyrightable pictorial, graphic, and sculptural work (“PGS work”) contain “sculptural features that can be identified separately from, and are capable of existing independently of, the utilitarian aspects of the article.” Despite this attempt at clarification, a nine-way circuit split emerged, with courts— as well as the Copyright Office itself—taking various approaches to the separability analysis. In fact, the Second Circuit developed three different approaches itself, each attempting to identify the supremacy of the artistic or creative elements over the utilitarian aspects of a work in order to award it copyright protection
Lift Evr'y Voice and Sing: Tracing the Legacy of Appropriation of Black Artists Under U.S. Copyright Law
Get PDFThis note will trace the lineage of the structural inequities of copyright law that have generationally impacted Black musicians across genres, arriving to modern day issues and the technological advances that inflame these very inequities. While beginning with a conveyance of the statutory provisions that aided in unequal treatment of Black artists under copyright law is crucial, the focus of analysis and critique will center on copyright law’s development of the compulsory licensing scheme and its unique impact on Black artists by questioning the efficacy of the existing licensing structure. Parts I and II will look at the earliest iterations of the Copyright Act: from 1790 to 1909 and the legal status of Black Americans through a series of case studies looking at the Act’s effect on Black artists during the emergence of American Popular music in jazz, blues, and rock’n’roll. Part III will examine the creation of modern copyright law against the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement and the emergence of rhythm & blues and hip-hop. Part IV will argue the shortcomings of the 1976 Act and modern challenges that copyright law is unequipped to address and suggest the adoption of an institutional moral right standard for musicians under Copyright law.
The development of artificial intelligence and its ability to replicate the style of artists, alongside the growing presence of digital streaming and independent artistry reinvigorates the continued tradition of the appropriation of Black artists. The modern issues Black artists face in these realms are not occurring in a vacuum but are rather a product of a tradition of imitation, appropriation, and distortion under the copyright scheme–and is therefore pertinent to contextualize the historical treatment of African Americans under intellectual property laws to best address the continuation of these issues in a new generation of musi
The Past is Prologue—How Prior Challenges with New Technology May Guide the Music Industry in Dealing with AI
Get PDFIn a peer-to-peer file-sharing case1 involving tens of millions of users sharing millions of sound recordings, Judge Sidney R. Thomas of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals wrote:
The introduction of new technology is always disruptive to old markets, and particularly to those copyright owners whose works are sold through well-established distribution mechanisms. Yet, history has shown that time and market forces often provide equilibrium in balancing interests, whether the new technology be a player piano, a copier, a tape recorder, a video recorder, a personal computer, a karaoke machine, or an MP3 player.
For the music industry, artificial intelligence (“AI”) is a technology full of virtue and promise that has already proven valuable in numerous ways. In the creation of music by human artists, AI has been useful in assisting in the production of songs and sounds, as well as in the automation of related tedious technical tasks, thereby freeing creators to focus more deeply on their artistry. With respect to consumers, AI has been useful in helping to organize, categorize, and index their music, as well as in supporting their discovery of music through song curation, playlist creation, and recommendation. At the same time, AI also poses a number of disruptive threats. By training on unauthorized uses of copyrighted works, AI can create music that has the potential to oversaturate the market, thereby undermining the artistic integrity of music created by human beings and threatening the economic welfare of creators. How might these various threats be minimized so that AI neither inflicts serious harm to the careers of artists and songwriters nor cripples an industry that is based on and supports human creativity? History may offer a guide.
In this Article, I will:
set out the issues surrounding four moments in music industry history in which a new technology (often, a new format) posed challenges to copyright law and/or business norms of the time;
describe how those challenges were overcome and their disruptive effects muted; and
highlight how the lessons of these past challenges may be useful as the industry confronts the challenges posed by AI
