ABSTRACT
Patent cultures of the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries anticipated the storms of the period after the coming of intellectual property and copyright. Since the 1980s, and particularly after the early 1990s, US media industries shifted to designating defense of intellectual property in knowledge as one of the key mechanisms of global control. The older model of abstract authorship, perfected under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994, has moved firmly onto the global arena, with copyright and patent compliance. Intergovernmental organizations joined advocacy and enforcement organizations for the US and regional media industries in the campaign against "piracy" and the push for "compliance". The best-known organization is the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) formed in 1984 to represent the US copyright-based industries. In addition to the IIPA's industry advocacy model, the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) is a significant inter-governmental body established by the United Nations.
