King Hall mourns loss of Professor Leslie Kurtz
Professor Emerita Leslie A. Kurtz, a King Hall faculty member for more than 30 years and a pioneer in UC Davis Law’s outstanding intellectual property program, died Sept. 6 after a long battle with cancer. She was 75.
One of UC Davis Law’s first tenured female professors, Professor Kurtz specialized in copyright, trademarks, and unfair competition. She taught in those areas, and Torts, before retiring in 2015. She returned to King Hall as an emerita, teaching Trademark and Unfair Competition Law in spring 2018 and spring 2019.
“Professor Kurtz was a trailblazer in many ways, and such an important part of the King Hall community for decades,” UC Davis Law Dean Kevin R. Johnson said. “We all will miss her greatly.”
In a 2015 article in UC Davis Law’s Counselor magazine, Professor Kurtz recalled arriving at the law school in 1981 to essentially begin its IP law program.
“Professor (Richard) Wydick had been teaching intellectual property, but it wasn’t his primary field,” she said. “I was the first person who came here specifically to teach intellectual property as a regular faculty member.”
Before receiving her J.D. from Columbia University, Professor Kurtz had earned an M.A. in theater from New York University, and she subsequently worked as an actress in off-Broadway and summer stock productions. She eventually decided law was a more viable career, but always kept her love for theater and the arts in mind.
After a stint at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she worked for a New York entertainment law firm, where her practice included copyright, trademark, and unfair competition. Three years into her career as a litigator, she was recruited by UC Davis, where the entertainment world – specifically, the legal ownership of characters – would inform her scholarship.
Her highly regarded 1986 Wisconsin Law Review article “The Independent Legal Lives of Fictional Characters” analyzed the legal protection available for characters removed from their original context to lead new and independent lives.
When fictional characters moved from analog to digital, so did Professor Kurtz’s scholarship. Her 2005 article “Digital Actors and Copyright: From ‘The Polar Express’ to ‘Simone,’” explored copyright issues associated with computer-created characters modeled on real people, including Tom Hanks’ motion-caption conductor in the popular 2004 children’s movie “The Polar Express.”
In the Counselor interview, Professor Kurtz acknowledged the explosion of interest in her field of expertise in the latter half of her UC Davis career:
“Many forms of intellectual property have expanded as a result of digitization and the Internet. Compared to when I started, there is a lot more student interest, and more job opportunities.”
Professor Kurtz was a dedicated teacher and colleague, said her close friend, Professor Emerita Evelyn Lewis.
“She was always a passionate and consistent voice for the notion that school policies and practices should benefit, or at least not harm, the learning and social environment and experience for our students,” Professor Lewis said.
Professor Kurtz was a “a marvelous faculty colleague,” Professor Lewis said. A great “problem-solver and team player,” she often was tapped to serve on important law school and campus committees. “She never shirked such responsibilities, and performed them with uncommon acumen,” Professor Lewis said.
Professor Kurtz also was an international traveler, animal lover, accomplished home cook, and fan of cooking shows. An art connoisseur and collector, Professor Kurtz also avidly practiced crafts such as knitting and glass-bead work.
“In short, whether at work or not, Leslie’s mind didn’t know the meaning of ‘idle,’” Professor Lewis said.
No memorial service has been organized yet for Professor Kurtz. In lieu of flowers, those inclined can send gifts and remembrances to one of her favored organizations -- Yolo Hospice, UC Davis School of Law, or the Yolo County SPCA.
Professor Kurtz is survived by her sister, Judy Kurtz, of Davis; a niece, Lily Kurtz; a nephew, Mark Rosales; and her longtime partner, Professor Emeritus Daniel Fessler.