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Full-Text Articles in Law

Black Musical Traditions And Copyright Law: Historical Tensions, Candace G. Hines Jan 2005

Black Musical Traditions And Copyright Law: Historical Tensions, Candace G. Hines

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Note begins with a discussion of copyright law and then examines Black musical traditions and how they have conflicted with American copyright law through the years. Part I explains the history of American copyright law and its theoretical underpinnings. Part II relates common Black musical traditions in more detail. Part III illustrates how the foundations of Black musical traditions can be found in Negro Spirituals. Part IV outlines the notion of Black music as it evolved in ragtime. Part V describes how copyright undermined the traditions of blues, jazz, and R&B. Part VI explains how rock 'n' roll's prominence …


Copyright Infringement, Sex Trafficking, And Defamation In The Fictional Life Of A Geisha, Susan Tiefenbrun Jan 2004

Copyright Infringement, Sex Trafficking, And Defamation In The Fictional Life Of A Geisha, Susan Tiefenbrun

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Memoirs of a Geisha has sold and made millions for Arthur Golden since 1997. This is his first novel, and it has earned him worldwide acclaim. A feature film version directed by Steven Spielberg is in the works. The book is translated into more than twenty languages. This article uses the book and the legal controversy that ensued after its publication to ask, and hopefully answer, two questions: First, is the geisha tradition as described by Golden in his fictional biography a variant of sex trafficking and sexual slavery which, despite possible cultural justifications, should be abolished by law? Second, …


Beyond State Sovereignty: The Protection Of Cultural Heritage As A Shared Interest Of Humanity, Francesco Francioni Jan 2004

Beyond State Sovereignty: The Protection Of Cultural Heritage As A Shared Interest Of Humanity, Francesco Francioni

Michigan Journal of International Law

In this paper the author will try to explore the topic from a different perspective: i.e. the emergence of cultural heritage as part of the shared interest of humanity, with the consequent need for international law to safeguard it in its material and living manifestations, including the cultural communities that create, perform and maintain it. Culture in itself is not extraneous to the formation of the modern nation State. Especially in the history of nineteenth century Europe, culture as language, religion, literary and artistic traditions provided the cement and the legitimizing element to support the claim to independent statehood.


Miranda'S Fall?, Kenji Yoshino May 2000

Miranda'S Fall?, Kenji Yoshino

Michigan Law Review

If one wishes to revisit a classic, Albert Crunus's The Fall is a riskier choice than Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, which Steven Lubet eloquently discussed last year in these pages. It is not only that Camus's work will be less familiar to legal audiences than Lee's, despite the fact that The Fall is becoming recognized through critical "revisitation" as perhaps Crunus's greatest novel. It is also that the legal protagonist of The Fall, Jean-Baptiste Clamence, does not have Atticus Finch's immediate appeal. Finch is idealistic, Clamence is existential; Finch is pious, Clamence is debauched; Finch is hopeful, Clamence …


The Postmodern Infiltration Of Legal Scholarship, Arthur Austin May 2000

The Postmodern Infiltration Of Legal Scholarship, Arthur Austin

Michigan Law Review

For legal scholars it is the best of times. We are inundated by an eclectic range of writing that pushes the envelope from analysis and synthesis to the upper reaches of theory. Mainstream topics face fierce competition from fresh ideological visions, a variety of genres, and spirited criticism of the status quo. Young professors have access to a burgeoning variety of journals to circulate their ideas and advice while the mass media covets them as public intellectuals. There is a less sanguine mood; an increasingly vocal group of scholars complain that it is the worst of times and refer to …


Girls Lean Back Everywhere: The Law Of Obscenity And The Assault On Genius, Anne E. Gilson May 1993

Girls Lean Back Everywhere: The Law Of Obscenity And The Assault On Genius, Anne E. Gilson

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Girls Lean Back Everywhere: The Law of Obscenity and the Assault on Genius by Edward de Grazia


Repatriation And Cultural Preservation: Potent Objects, Potent Pasts, Peter H. Welsh Jun 1992

Repatriation And Cultural Preservation: Potent Objects, Potent Pasts, Peter H. Welsh

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Parts I and II discuss the preservation idea itself and the history of museums' participation in cultural preservation efforts. Parts III and IV then look specifically at the repatriation issue, providing some background on initiatives that have influenced peoples' thoughts and actions. Finally, Part V outlines and discusses some of the issues that have made resolution of the repatriation issue particularly complex.