Peter Decherney Is First Assistant Professor to Be Named Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Scholar

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has named Assistant Professor Peter Decherney a 2009 Academy Film Scholar. He is the first assistant professor to win this prestigious award, which the Academy normally reserves for senior scholars whose work examines the cultural, educational, historical, theoretical or scientific aspects of theatrical motion pictures.

Decherney is the Stephen M. Gorn Family Assistant Professor of Cinema Studies and English and the 2009-2010 director of the Penn English Program in London. His research and teaching focus on the history of media regulation and on internet policy, specifically the interaction between the American film industry and the United States government. He is working on his second book, a study of Hollywood's long engagement with copyright law that explores film antipiracy campaigns, filmmakers' authorial rights, the changing legal environment for new technologies, and other areas in which copyright law has helped shape the Hollywood film industry.

This honor, which includes a $25,000 research grant, will be presented at a luncheon in Los Angeles on April 19. Upon completion of his book, Decherney will give a lecture at the Academy, the same organization that bestows the annual Academy Awards for achievements in cinema.