Queer creativity is based in the rejection of IPR---plan and aff are incommensurable.

Applying queer theory to analyze IP would therefore focus on revealing how IP doctrine foregrounds heteronormative cultural and creative expression, privileging a certain dominant culture and subjugating queer culture and queer communities and individuals. Yet another useful methodology for queering IP is to explore and explain communities and sites in which queer creativity thrives. Exploring such domains can help in identifying what elements might be essential for queer cultural and creative expressions to thrive, the relationship between IP law and queer creativity, and whether and how these domains of queer creativity challenge IP. In addition, this methodology provides important evidence in an exploration of the alignment between queer theory and queer cultural expression in practice. This approach adds a new and important element to commonly used methodologies, as it engages directly with queer creative sites, asking how these domains are constructed and linking the knowledge gained from this inquiry back to the theoretical queer analysis of IP. Notable examples of creative domains where queer creativity thrives include drag, fan fiction, roller derby skating, online gaming, queer cinema, queer art festivals, the ballroom scene, and queercore (a queer punk subculture). As this Article illustrates, a common feature that many of these creative areas share is resistance to, or rejection of, IP law, suggesting that the relationship between queer theory, queer creative expression, and IP law is multifaceted; queer theory aims to deconstruct IP law, while at the same time IP law may be an important element in queer creative expression. These two methodologies—a queer theoretical appraisal of IP doctrine and a practical examination of creative domains in which queer creativity thrives—suggest new ways to understand IP law and queer creativity. The methodologies reveal how mainstream concepts of normativity, sexuality, desire, and gender shape IP doctrine and how resistance to IP cultivates queer creative expression. These methodologies also can be useful for other critical approaches in IP scholarship, such as those focused on gender, race, socio-economic, and de-colonial contexts.