Social Capital and Cultural Producers' Copyright Ownership of Their Creations: Evidence from the Television Industry 1956–1996.

This article examines how social capital—specifically status and partner substitutability—and property regulations influence cultural producers' ability to own copyrights for their creations, focusing on American television showrunners from 1956 to 1996. It finds that higher status and a greater number of broadcaster partnerships increase the likelihood that producers secure ownership, but the strength of these effects depends on the regulatory regime governing property rights. Under balanced regulatory regimes that limit broadcasters' control over production resources (1970–1993), status plays a stronger role in ownership outcomes, whereas in unbalanced regimes (pre-1970 and post-1993), partner substitutability is more influential. These findings highlight the interplay between industry structure, legal frameworks, and social capital in shaping power dynamics and copyright allocation in cultural industries.