Meet Lea Bishop
Professor Lea Bishop J.D., is a dedicated scholar-advocate for promoting the human right to read. Her work encompasses both conceptual and pragmatic approaches to advancing this right. Conceptually, she has developed a comprehensive theory of the right to science and culture, which has gained recognition and adoption within the United Nations. By establishing the theoretical foundation, she has helped shape global discussions and policies surrounding the importance of access to knowledge and information.
Pragmatically, Professor Bishop has put forth a visionary proposal known as the "Ending Book Hunger by 2030" global plan. This ambitious initiative aims to eradicate the barriers that hinder individuals from accessing books and reading materials by the year 2030. By addressing issues such as unequal distribution, affordability, and accessibility, Professor Bishop's plan seeks to create a world where everyone has equal opportunities to satisfy their thirst for knowledge.
In addition to her conceptual and pragmatic endeavors, Professor Bishop has shown an innovative approach by exploring the impact of ChatGPT, an advanced language model, on the right to read. By investigating the potential benefits and challenges of AI technologies like ChatGPT in relation to literacy and access to information, she has shed light on the evolving landscape of reading rights and the transformative role of technology. Her research contributes to the ongoing conversation on how emerging technologies can be harnessed to empower individuals and expand access to educational resources globally.
In her free time, Professor Bishop enjoys reading Harry Potter books with her children and hosting Harry Potter parties, complete with wizard robes and potion lessons.
Read her book: "Ending Book Hunger" for free.
View books that Professor Bishop has personally helped translate.
I’m tackling the specific problem of childhood book hunger. Worldwide, one billion kids have nothing to read, because there is no viable children’s publishing industry in the languages they speak.
Professor Lea Bishop
Top Photo: Indian mother reading to boy with infant . Bottom Left Photo: African mother and child reading. Bottom Right Photo: Pratham books.
Top Photo: First Book Kids reading books on the back of a truck. Bottom Left Photo: African Storybook Project. Bottom Right Photo: Room to Read Kmher Classroom.
Q and A with Professor Lea Bishop
When I was four years old, a babysitter predicted that I would become either a lawyer or a professor. She was doubly right!
So much effort has gone into ensuring access to essential medicines within the patent system. I’m interested in how copyright law impacts access to books.
The United Nations officially embraced my scholarship on “the right to science and culture,” meaning the world now recognizes cultural participation, access to technology, and the right to read as universal human rights. In many countries that has a significant impact on national laws and policies.
Now I’m tackling the specific problem of childhood book hunger. Worldwide, one billion kids have nothing to read, because there is no viable children’s publishing industry in the languages they speak. ENDING BOOK HUNGER explores nonprofit solutions to this problem.
It’s truly inspiring to study the incredible, impactful work of the passionate individuals and nonprofits coming up with creative solutions to such a big problems. It lifts my faith in the power of humanity to build a better world for each other and ourselves.
One semester I was exploring whether nonprofits could translate English books for kids who speak languages like Ukrainian and Zulu. Would they need to negotiate licenses with each publisher? Or would it fall within fair use? I taught the students in my Copyright Law class about fair use and asked them to write memos addressing the question. Having their outside perspective was incredibly valuable. They learned a lot too.
My research would go nowhere without the community organizations doing the work. More recently, I held a workshop with human rights advocates and librarians and children’s literature experts and authors to explore solutions to end book hunger as part of the human right to education.
I’m working through the United Nations to raise awareness of book hunger as a problem that governments need to prioritize solving, because literacy is the key to education, poverty reduction, health, and many other areas. I’m also exploring how AI tools like ChatGPT might help us tackle this huge challenge.
Conversation with Professor Lea Bishop
On Friday, June 23, 2023 from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m., Professor Lea Bishop talked about "Ending Childhood Book Hunger." Professor Lea Bishop is recognized internationally as a leading expert on book hunger and the right to read. Her research on intellectual property and distributive justice has shaped human rights law at the United Nations and informed her proposal for a plan to end childhood book hunger globally by 2030. She is tenured at Indiana University's Robert H. McKinney School of Law, where she teaches copyright law and human rights and studies the impact of ChatGPT and other generative AI. During this conversation, Professor Bishop talked about her research on how emerging technologies can be harnessed to empower individuals and expand access to educational resources globally. View Professor Bishop's talk.
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