Lyman Ray Patterson (18 February 1929 – 5 November 2003) was an

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and an influential copyright scholar and historian.

Biography

Patterson was born in Macon, Georgia. He graduated from Mercer University, and obtained a master's degree in English from Northwestern University. After teaching English at Middle Georgia College, he joined the Army where he studied Russian at the

Army Language School The Defense Language Institute (DLI) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) educational and research institution consisting of two separate entities which provide linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other f ...

. During the Korean War he served as a translator of Russian radio broadcasts. Following the Army he attended law school at Mercer University. After practicing law for two years with the firm of Matthews, Maddox, Walton and Smith in

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he returned to the Mercer Law School to teach. During Patterson's tenure at Mercer he attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

and wrote his S.J.D. dissertation on the

history of copyright law History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

. He received the S.J.D. degree from Harvard in 1966. The dissertation became the foundation for his influential book ''

Copyright in Historical Perspective ''Copyright in Historical Perspective'' is an influential work of copyright scholarship by Lyman Ray Patterson. The book traces the history of Anglo-Saxon copyright from the outgoing 15th century to the late 19th century. Starting with William Cax ...

'', 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 assistant United States Attorney while teaching at Vanderbilt. In 1973 Patterson joined the faculty at the Emory 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 the University of Texas School of Law. The

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L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award was established in his honor.American Library Association
L. Ray Patterson Copyright Award
(website last visited, 7 May 2009). The first three winners were Kenneth Crews (2005); Prue Adler (2006); and Peter Jaszi (2007). Ray Patterson died at age 74. He is succeeded by his wife, Laura Patterson and two daughters Adelyn Hilado and Ida Patterson. He also left behind four grandchildren who consider him an inspiration to this day. He constantly stressed the importance of an education to which all four grand children took to heart. His oldest grandson, Thomas Ray Hilado, also attended Mercer University in his grandfather's footsteps. His oldest granddaughter, Laura Carol Hilado attends Emory University; where Patterson served as the Dean of the Emory University School of Law.

Bibliography

* ''

'' (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1968) * ''The Nature of Copyright: A Law of Users' Rights'' (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1991) (with Stanley W. Lindberg)

Biography

Bibliography

Notes

Further reading