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Literary Landlords In Plaguetime, Brian L. Frye
Literary Landlords In Plaguetime, Brian L. Frye
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
The coronavirus pandemic has affected our lives in countless ways. One of its unfortunate effects was the unavoidable closure of public libraries. Many people rely on public libraries for many different things, including free access to books. When public libraries closed, many people lost access to books, especially new books.
In response, the Internet Archive created the National Emergency Library to make digital copies of books more accessible. The Internet Archive's Open Library is a free digital lending library founded in 2006 that provides digital access to the books in its collection. Currently, the Open Library holds about 4 million …
Conceptual Copyright, Brian L. Frye
Conceptual Copyright, Brian L. Frye
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
Conceptual art is art that consists of ideas, not their realization. It tests the
boundaries of art, by eliminating the art object entirely. Legal scholars should be
interested in conceptual art because it can help them test the boundaries of legal
doctrines and their justifications. I created a work of conceptual art that reflects
on both the securities laws and copyright doctrine. Among other things, I asked
the SEC and the Copyright Office to opine on that work, with limited success. I
use my experience to reflect on how conceptual art can illuminate our
understanding of the law.
A License To Plagiarize, Brian L. Frye
A License To Plagiarize, Brian L. Frye
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
Since time immemorial, authors have wanted to own various kinds of
exclusive rights in the works they create. Curiously, the rights authors want
to own at any particular point in time tend to reflect the nature of the market
for the works they create. The first exclusive right authors wanted was attribution.
In classical Greece, philosophers accused each other of copying
ideas without attribution. The Roman poet Martial coined the term plagiarius
to criticize other poets for passing off his poems as their own. Even
medieval Irish poets observed plagiarism norms that prohibited copying
without attribution. In all of these …
The Right Of Reattribution, Brian L. Frye
The Right Of Reattribution, Brian L. Frye
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
Usually, authors love their works as their children: fiercely and unconditionally. Indeed, many authors refer to their works as their “children,” and some show far more solicitude for their aesthetic children than their actual ones. Of course, authors can also be cruel to their works. As William Faulkner famously observed, “In writing you must kill all your darlings.” But even such merciless culling doesn’t prevent authors from loving what survives. If anything, their love only deepens with each sacrifice.
But even the filial bond can be broken. Many disappointed parents have disowned their prodigal children. Sometimes the relationship can be …
A Textualist Interpretation Of The Visual Artists Rights Act Of 1990, Brian L. Frye
A Textualist Interpretation Of The Visual Artists Rights Act Of 1990, Brian L. Frye
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
For numberless generations, jurisprudes waged total war in the
conflict among textualism, intentionalism, and purposivism.
Textualists insisted that courts must interpret statutes based on the
meaning of their text, intentionalists insisted on the intention of the
legislature, and purposivists insisted on the purpose of the statute.
Eventually, textualism prevailed. Courts universally recognize
that they are obligated to interpret statutes in light of their text, or
at least pretend that the text of the statute determined their
interpretation. And the few remaining heretics are swiftly identified
and corrected by their superiors. As Justice Kagan famously
observed, “We’re all textualists now.” Whether …