Digital Commons Network^™

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Through The Looking Glass: Runaway Productions And "Hollywood Economics", Adrian H. Mcdonald

ExpressO

This paper uses the issue of runaway production as a looking glass into the complex world of Hollywood economics and politics. As such, a broad overview of Hollywood's business practices, history, and technology are discussed so the reader can understand how runaway production (a major issue itself) is one piece of the Hollywood puzzle. Specifically, this paper attempts to study runaway productions from the Law and Economics approach described in Judge Richard Posner's text on the subject. Events in 2006 illustrate the continuing importance of runaway productions and CEIDR's August 2006 report is discussed in this paper.

Recently expanded, this …

Article 17 And The Scope Of Trademark Protection Afforded Under The Trips Agreement, Katja G. Weckstroem

ExpressO

The protection of trademarks, when it raises a conflict with the protection of geographical indications is one of the most contested issues on the international trade and intellectual property arena. In European Communities - Protection of Trademarks and Geographical Indications for Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs a WTO panel was faced with this issue. The panel report gives some insight into what international trademark law mandates as well as some pointers on how conflicts between different IP rights should be solved. This article attempts a deeper analysis of the coexistence of rights in the framework of the TRIPS Agreement that will …

Data Privacy, Data Piracy: Can India Provide Adequate Protection For Electronically Transferred Data?, Vinita Bali

ExpressO

As the wave of outsourcing to India swells, there is growing concern about the inadequacies of the India legal system in protecting data being transferred to it from other nations for the purpose of processing. India has a smattering of laws that scantily address the issue of data privacy. Under pressure from the business processing industry in India, as well as from the European Union and other nations, it is but a matter of time before India adopts a slate of laws that address the issue of data protection. Once these laws are enacted, the main issue that remains is …

How The Other Half Lives (Revisited): Twenty Years Since Midler V. Ford - A Global Perspective On The Right Of Publicity, Alain Lapter

ExpressO

For celebrities, name and image are, arguably, two of their most valuable assets. From headlining a movie, to starring in a commercial, to endorsing a product, a celebrity’s persona is potentially worth thousands to millions of dollars. However, this intangible commodity’s worth is often siphoned off by those who appropriate a celebrity’s name or image without authorization or remuneration, thus potentially decreasing the property’s value. In order to stifle this unjust enrichment, celebrities greatly desire the absolute right to control the commercial exploitation of their name and likeness.

In this article, I examine the current state of the right of …

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Global Pharmaceutical Patent Law In Developing Countries- Amending Trips To Promote Access For All, Angela J. Anderson

ExpressO

This comment will analyze the need to amend and revise the current global pharmaceutical patent system under TRIPS to take into account the needs of developing countries and overall public health. This comment will emphasize that the current international trade rules, which although administered by the WTO, are dictated by developed country governments and powerful pharmaceutical companies, and therefore, without reform will further diminish the access of poor people in developing countries to vital medicines. Part II of this comment will provide a general overview of the international trade law governing patents on pharmaceuticals focusing specifically on the development of …

Global Pharmaceutical Patent Law In Developing Countries- Amending Trips To Promote Access For All, Angela J. Anderson

ExpressO

This comment will analyze the need to amend and revise the current global pharmaceutical patent system under TRIPS to take into account the needs of developing countries and overall public health. This comment will emphasize that the current international trade rules, which although administered by the WTO, are dictated by developed country governments and powerful pharmaceutical companies, and therefore, without reform will further diminish the access of poor people in developing countries to vital medicines. Part II of this comment will provide a general overview of the international trade law governing patents on pharmaceuticals focusing specifically on the development of …

The Secret Is Out: Patent Law Preempts Mass Market License Terms Barring Reverse Engineering For Interoperability Purposes, Daniel Laster

ExpressO

As patent protection has emerged to protect software, courts and commentators have mistakenly focused on copyright law and overlooked the centrality of patent preemption to limit contract law where a mass market license which prohibits reverse engineering (RE) for purposes of developing interoperable products leads to patent-like protection. Review of copyright fair use cases on RE and Congress’s policy favoring RE for interoperability purposes in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act reinforce the case for patent preemption. Also, the fundamental freedom to RE embodied in state trade secret law, coupled with federal patent and copyright law and policies, cumulatively should override …