The Near-Death of the Author: Creativity in the Internet Age

“Potts’ book is thorough, enlightening and enjoyable. The diversity of examples – as well as the expanded view of what author/-ship is and can be – makes this a book relevant to many. I certainly see myself drawing on it, including when considering fandom and copyright.” Sebastian F. K. Svegaard, Queensland University of Technology, Media International Australia

"The Near-Death of the Author provides essential explanation and questioning of the complexity modern authors have to deal with regarding ownership, status, and reward. By placing discussions of technological change at the heart of authorship studies, this text reframes discussions about the changing nature of authorship, showing that digitalization and authorial practice are now intrinsically linked, and that technology has changed the nature of how we must evaluate creative practice and the creative industries."

Melissa Terras, Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage, University of Edinburgh

"Impressive in its intellectual reach across centuries of authorial practice and theory, from ancient Mesopotamia to the digital age, from scrolls to NFTs, The Near-Death of the Author combines a pragmatic call for copyright revision with a steadfast advocacy of artists’ rights to recompense for their creative labour. Above all, it is a tribute to the fluid, adaptive, and endlessly serendipitous nature of authorship itself."

Lorraine York, Distinguished University Professor, English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University

"This book will satisfy all those who are curious about the changes that have befallen the status of the author from antiquity to the present. While it may seem that the rise of AI, big data, and machine learning put authors on the threatened-species list, they have thus far avoided extinction. And if John Potts is right, the near-death of the author looks likely to remain just that."

Ross Rudesch Harley, Professor Emeritus, Arts and Design, UNSW Sydney