Law Commons^™

The Google Art Project: An Analysis From A Legal And Social Perspective On Copyright Implications, Katrina Wu

Katrina Wu

The Google Art Project is an ambitious attempt by Google to curate worldwide artwork online in the highest resolution possible. Google accomplishes this by partnering with museums where museums provide access to art collections and Google provides the technology to capture high quality images. Under this existing model, Google places the burden of copyright clearances on museums and removes images from online if requested by copyright owners. An endeavor like the Google Art Project is not unprecedented however, when Google attempted to put the world’s books online under the Google Books Project, scanning millions of titles and offering snippets for …

The Costs And Benefits Of Regulatory Intervention In Internet Service Provider Interconnection Disputes: Lessons From Broadcaster-Cable Retransmission Consent Negotiations, Rob Frieden

Rob Frieden

This paper considers what limited roles the FCC may lawfully assume to ensure timely and fair interconnection and compensation agreements in the Internet ecosystem. The paper examines the FCC’s limited role in broadcaster-cable television retransmission consent negotiations with an eye toward assessing the applicability of this model. The FCC explicitly states that it lacks jurisdiction to prescribe terms, or to mandate binding arbitration. However, it recently interpreted its statutory authority to ensure “good faith” negotiations as allowing it to constrain broadcaster negotiating leverage by prohibiting multiple operators, having the largest market share, from joining in collective negotiations with cable operators. …

Internet Protocol Television And The Challenge Of “Mission Critical” Bits., Rob Frieden

Rob Frieden

The Internet increasingly provides an alternative distribution medium for video and other types of high value, bandwidth intensive content. Many consumers have become “technology agnostic” about what kind of wireline or wireless medium provides service. However, they expect carriers to offer access anytime, anywhere, via any device and in any format. These early adopters of new technologies and alternatives to “legacy” media have no patience with the concept of “appointment television” that limits access to a specific time, on a single channel and in only one presentation format. This paper assesses whether and how Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) can offer …

“Can I Profit From My Own Name And Likeness As A College Athlete?” The Predictive Legal Analytics Of A College Player’S Publicity Rights Vs. First Amendment Rights Of Others, Roger M. Groves

Roger M. Groves

Two federal court decisions during 2013 have changed the game for college students versus the schools, the NCAA and video game makers. This article explores whether for the first time in history these athletes can profit from their own name and likeness and prevent others from doing so. But those cases still leave many untested applications to new facts – facts that the courts have not faced. Particularly intriguing is how 21st Century technology will apply to this area in future litigation. No publicity rights case or article to date has explored the application of predictive analytics, computer programs, algorithms, …

Dissolving Innovation In Meltwater: A Misguided Paradigm For Online Search, Bill D. Herman

Bill D. Herman

With the exponential increases in online information, internet search engines have helped fill a substantial and growing need for the capacity to sort through and manage data. News outlets in general and newspapers in particular are among the most socially important sources of online content being indexed, and these outlets are faring rather poorly in the internet economy. Both of these sectors are thus in a precarious, potentially conflicted relationship, with copyright law serving as the primary legal basis for mediating the relationship. A 2013 decision, Associated Press v. Meltwater, is one recent attempt to mediate this relationship. In …

Hacking The Anti-Hacking Statute: Using The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act To Secure Public Data Exclusivity, Nicholas A. Wolfe

Nicholas A Wolfe

Work smarter, not harder. Perhaps no other saying better captures the era of hyper-productivity and automation in which we live. Titles such as ‘Top Ten Hacks to Avoid Paywalls,’ ‘Five ways You’re Wasting Your time,’ and ‘One Weird Trick’ fly across our computer screens on a commoditized basis. [1] These tips and tricks help us automate our lives and get more done, faster. Better living through automation. However, as these shortcut solutions get better and automation advances, a question arises. When does working smarter cross the line into cheating?

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was designed to draw this …

Lost In The Cloud: Information Flows And The Implications Of Cloud Computing For Trade Secret Protection, Sharon K. Sandeen

Sharon K. Sandeen

As has been noted elsewhere, the advent of digital technology and the Internet has greatly increased the risk that a company’s trade secrets will be lost through the inadvertent or intentional distribution of such secrets. The advent of cloud computing adds another dimension to this risk by placing actual or potential trade secrets in the hands of a third-party: the cloud computing service. This article explores the legal and practical implications of cloud computing as they relate to trade secret protection.

While there are many types of cloud computing services, this article focuses on cloud-based services that offer businesses the …

Lost In The Cloud: Information Flows And The Implications Of Cloud Computing For Trade Secret Protection, Sharon K. Sandeen

Sharon K. Sandeen

As has been noted elsewhere, the advent of digital technology and the Internet has greatly increased the risk that a company’s trade secrets will be lost through the inadvertent or intentional distribution of such secrets. The advent of cloud computing adds another dimension to this risk by placing actual or potential trade secrets in the hands of a third-party: the cloud computing service. This article explores the legal and practical implications of cloud computing as they relate to trade secret protection.

While there are many types of cloud computing services, this article focuses on cloud-based services that offer businesses the …

Federal And State Authority For Network Neutrality And Broadband Regulation, Tejas N. Narechania

Tejas N. Narechania

For the second time in less than four years, the D.C. Circuit has rebuffed the Federal Communications Commission’s attempt at imposing network neutrality rules on internet traffic. But in so doing, the D.C. Circuit affirmed the FCC’s theory of jurisdiction based on section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This ruling has the significant effect of transforming a questionable source of authority into what may become the Commission’s most significant font of regulatory power.

Surprisingly, section 706 seems to give the Commission the power to implement a slightly revised set of network neutrality rules. By narrowing the scope of …

The Evolution Of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act; Changing Interpretations Of The Dmca And Future Implications For Copyright Holders, Hillary A. Henderson

Hillary A Henderson

Copyright law rewards an artificial monopoly to individual authors for their creations. This reward is based on the belief that, by granting authors the exclusive right to reproduce their works, they receive an incentive and means to create, which in turn advances the welfare of the general public by “promoting the progress of science and useful arts.” Copyright protection subsists . . . in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or …

Net Bias And The Treatment Of “Mission-Critical” Bits, Rob Frieden

Rob Frieden

The Internet increasingly provides an alternative distribution medium for video and other types of high value, bandwidth intensive content. Many consumers have become “technology agnostic” about what kind of wireline or wireless medium provides service. However, they expect carriers to offer access anytime, anywhere, via any device and in any distribution format. These early adopters of new technologies and alternatives to “legacy” media have no patience with the concept of “appointment television” that limits access to a specific time, on a particular channel and in a single presentation format. This paper assesses whether and how Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) can …