James Leach is a social anthropologist with research interests in creativity, intellectual property, knowledge production, digital technologies, and ecological relations to place. He is employed by the CNRS in France as a Directeur de recherche, based in the Centre for Research and Documentation of Oceania, Aix-Marseille Université, and is also Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the University of Western Australia. His primary field site has been in Papua New Guinea, and he has also undertaken fieldwork in the UK, in Europe, and in Australia with contemporary dance companies, interdisciplinary collaborators, and free software engineers. His publications include books and articles on art, creativity, ownership, intellectual property, kinship and place, cross cultural knowledge exchanges, and ecological knowledge. He studied at the University of Manchester, and has worked at the Universities of Manchester, Cambridge, Aberdeen, and The University of Western Australia.