Article
Hyperreal: Law and the Interpretation of Visual Media
Kentucky Law Journal
(2021)
Abstract
this work develops a framework for the interpretation of visual media. Currently, the law is in a state of incoherence, delivering results that have caused public protests in some instances and cast doubt on the law’s ability to see images credibly. Although volumes have been filled that consider textual interpretation, a comparable effort has not been undertaken for visual images. This piece argues that the present state of incoherence is grounded in modernism, coupled with an inability to move beyond these former modes of interpretation that have become frozen in legal precedent. Stated succinctly, how images are created and understood has shifted within our society. Providing some general principles of visual interpretation, this work also argues that the law must be cognizant of the influence of visual cultures, which inform the creation and interpretation of images. These varied interpretations are embedded in larger and pluralistic understandings that the viewer brings to the experience. Further, this work proposes that rules of interpretation can be established to inform particular ways of seeing images that further the purposes of the substantive law. An interpretative process must incorporate these phenomena in assessing information presented in visual form.
Keywords
- Law,
- Interpretation,
- Art Law,
- Intellectual Property Law,
- Evidence
Disciplines
Publication Date
Winter January 1, 2021
Citation Information
Amy L. Landers. "Hyperreal: Law and the Interpretation of Visual Media" Kentucky Law Journal Vol. 109 Iss. 1 (2021) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/amy_landers1/26/