Eliza Piekarski
Mitchell Hamline 2L student Eliza Piekarski is making contributions to legal scholarship through a forthcoming book chapter, which will appear in the second edition of the Cambridge Handbook of Intellectual Property and Social Justice, published by Cambridge University Press.
Near the end of her first year at Mitchell Hamline, Piekarski began working on the chapter with Emeritus Professor Jay Erstling, researching and writing simultaneously.
“Professor Erstling was an amazing mentor. Even so, taking on the responsibility of writing a chapter worth publishing was stressful. I had a lot of doubts about whether I could write something worthwhile in an unfamiliar area of law,” said Piekarski.
The chapter, with Piekarski as first author, examines the Marrakesh Treaty, a 2013 international copyright agreement that makes it easier to produce and share accessible copies of books, such as braille and audio editions, for people who are blind or have other print disabilities. The chapter argues that one provision, which lets countries require payment to rightsholders when accessible copies are made, conflicts with the treaty’s purpose.
“Completing this chapter taught me that the limits we impose on ourselves are largely arbitrary and that oftentimes success comes from being willing to embrace uncertainty,” Piekarski said. “It means so much to have completed this project and to have become so familiar with a key area of international disability law.”
Piekarski wrote the chapter while working full time as a summer law clerk at O’Meara Wagner and part time as a legal extern in the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.
The second edition of the handbook is expected in 2027.