PUBLISHED:April 30, 2013

Osterman defends SJD dissertation on mass digitization projects

OstermanAvraham Reuven Osterman successfully defended his SJD dissertation on mass digitization projects on April 30.  An Israeli lawyer who received his LLM at Duke Law in 2008, Osterman examined the legal challenges posed by mass digitization, focusing on the impact of copyright laws and international copyright treaties on mass digitization projects, digital libraries, and access to knowledge.

Osterman defended his dissertation, titled “From the Digital Library of Babel to Microscopes of the Mind: Overcoming the Legal Obstacles to Mass Digitization Projects,” before the members of his SJD committee Duke Law intellectual property scholars Jerome Reichman, his supervisor, James Boyle, Arti Rai, and David Lange, and Professor Ruth Okediji from the University of Minnesota Law School, one of the world’s foremost experts on international intellectual property law and international economic regulation.  Several SJD students and candidates also attended, congratulating Osterman warmly on his successful defense. 

Avi Osterman SJD ’13 and doctoral candidate Ana SantosAvi Osterman SJD ’13 and doctoral candidate Ana Santos

SJD candidate and Osterman’s LLM classmate Ana Santos said that they had “embarked on the SJD odyssey together five years ago and I'm really happy and proud to see him finish his program today. I learned a lot from his presentations on mass digitization and other legal problems posed by digital technologies, and I am looking forward to following his career from now on.

“Above all, I must say that I am lucky to have found in him one of my best friends and one of the funniest people I know. Mazel tov, Avi!”