- Lyman Ray Patterson
Lyman Ray Patterson (
18 February 1929 –5 November 2003 ) was an American law professor and an influential copyright scholar and historian.Patterson was born in Macon, Georgia. He graduated from
Mercer University , and obtained a masters degree in English fromNorthwestern University . After teaching English atMiddle Georgia College , he joined the Army where he studied Russian at the Army Language School. During theKorean War he served as a translator of Russian radio broadcasts. Following the Army he attended law school atMercer University . After practicing law for two years with the firm of Matthews, Maddox, Walton and Smith inRome, Georgia he returned to the Mercer Law School to teach.During Patterson's tenure at Mercer he attended
Harvard Law School and wrote his S.J.D. dissertation on thehistory of copyright law . He received the S.J.D. degree from Harvard in 1966. The dissertation became the foundation for his influential book "Copyright in Historical Perspective ", published in 1968 and still in print as of 2007.Patterson joined the faculty at
Vanderbilt University Law School in 1963, and served as an assistantUnited States Attorney while teaching at Vanderbilt. In 1973 Patterson joined the faculty at theEmory University School of Law and was that school's Dean. In 1987, he joined the University of Georgia (UGA) School of Law faculty and remained there until his death in 2003. During his career he was a visiting professor at Georgia State University Law School,Duke University School of Law , and theUniversity of Texas School of Law .The ALA " [http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/contactwo/oitp/pattersonaward/award.cfm L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award] " is named in his honor. The first three winners were Kenneth Crews (2005); Prue Adler (2006); and Peter Jaszi (2007).
Bibliography
* "
Copyright in Historical Perspective " (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1968)
* "The Nature of Copyright: A Law of Users' Rights" (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1991) (with Stanley W. Lindberg)External links
* [http://www.law.uga.edu/intranet/archives/academics/profiles/patterson.html L. Ray Patterson] , archived homepage at the
University of Georgia School of Law
* [http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/contactwo/oitp/infocommons0204/patersonbib.htm L. Ray Patterson: A Selected Copyright Bibliography] , prepared by Kenneth D. Crews,American Library Association
* [http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/woissues/copyrightb/copyrightarticle/usersrightscopyright.cfm Users' Rights in Copyright] , an interview with Ray Patterson
* [http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/contactwo/oitp/pattersonaward/award.cfm L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award]
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