Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 15 of 15

Full-Text Articles in Law

Right On Time: A Reply To Professors Allen, Claeys, Epstein, Gordon, Holbrook, Mossoff, Rose, And Van Houweling, Dotan Oliar, James Y. Stern Jan 2020

Right On Time: A Reply To Professors Allen, Claeys, Epstein, Gordon, Holbrook, Mossoff, Rose, And Van Houweling, Dotan Oliar, James Y. Stern

Faculty Publications

A simple observation started us off in writing Right on Time. Studying and teaching intellectual property law, we noticed striking parallels between traditional first possession rules in property law and analagous rules governing the acquisition of patent, copyright, and trademark rights. We thought that established first possession principles could illuminate the workings of IP law. As we dug in, however, it became increasingly clear that our premise wasn’t quite right. While many penetrating commentators had said many penetrating things about first possession, the leading treatments tended to focus on significant individual aspects of the overall issue. What we could …


Right On Time: First Possession In Property And Intellectual Property, Dotan Oliar, James Y. Stern Mar 2019

Right On Time: First Possession In Property And Intellectual Property, Dotan Oliar, James Y. Stern

Faculty Publications

How should we allocate property rights in unowned tangible and intangible resources? This Article develops a model of original acquisition that draws together common law doctrines of first possession with original acquisition doctrines in patent, copyright, and trademark law. The common denominator is time: in each context, doctrine involves a trade-off between assigning entitlements to resources earlier or later in the process of their development and use. Early awards risk granting exclusivity to parties who may not be capable of putting resources to their best use. Late awards prolong contests for ownership, which may generate waste or discourage acquisition efforts …


The Nature Of Sequential Innovation, Christopher Buccafusco, Stefan Bechtold, Christopher Jon Sprigman Oct 2017

The Nature Of Sequential Innovation, Christopher Buccafusco, Stefan Bechtold, Christopher Jon Sprigman

William & Mary Law Review

When creators and innovators take up a new task, they face a world of existing creative works, inventions, and ideas, some of which are governed by intellectual property (IP) rights. This presents a choice: Should the creator pay to license those rights? Or, alternatively, should the creator undertake to innovate around them? Our Article formulates this “build on/build around decision” as the fundamental feature of sequential creativity, and it maps a number of factors—some legal, some contextual—that affect how creators are likely to decide between building on existing IP or building around it. Importantly, creators are influenced by more than …


Who Owns This Article? Applying Copyright’S Work-Made-For-Hire Doctrine To Librarians’ Scholarship, Paul Hellyer Jan 2016

Who Owns This Article? Applying Copyright’S Work-Made-For-Hire Doctrine To Librarians’ Scholarship, Paul Hellyer

Library Staff Publications

The Copyright Act of 1976 provides that works—including scholarship—written within the scope of employment belong to employers. But copyright law and actual practices widely diverge. The academic community generally allows librarians to claim ownership of their writing, even when that ignores copyright law. Mr. Hellyer supports copyright ownership by librarians, and calls for the law and common practices to be harmonized.


A Pasture Theory Of Creative Controls: A New Approach To Copyright And Patent Subject Matter Overgrowth, Maximilian Meese Apr 2015

A Pasture Theory Of Creative Controls: A New Approach To Copyright And Patent Subject Matter Overgrowth, Maximilian Meese

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Contracting In The Dark: Casting Light On The Shadows Of Second Level Agreements, Abigail R. Simon Feb 2014

Contracting In The Dark: Casting Light On The Shadows Of Second Level Agreements, Abigail R. Simon

William & Mary Business Law Review

In the early days of the Internet, copyright owners concentrated on eliminating infringement threats posed by the new technology. Today, many copyright owners are partnering with major user-generated content platforms in order to participate in and receive compensation for some third-party infringement occurring on the Internet. YouTube pioneered such partnership arrangements in 2006 with a new kind of copyright license now referred to as a “second level agreement.” In 2008, YouTube unveiled Content ID, which streamlined the process for entering into second level agreements with the site. This Note analyzes Content ID and the second level agreements underlying it to …


The Copyrightability Of New Works Of Authorship: 'Xml Schemas' As An Example, I. Trotter Hardy Apr 2001

The Copyrightability Of New Works Of Authorship: 'Xml Schemas' As An Example, I. Trotter Hardy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Owning Digital Copies: Copyright Law And The Incidents Of Copy Ownership, Joseph P. Liu Apr 2001

Owning Digital Copies: Copyright Law And The Incidents Of Copy Ownership, Joseph P. Liu

William & Mary Law Review

As copyrighted works are increasingly distributed in digital form over the Internet, our conventional print-based understandings of the rights associated with copy ownership are coming into increasing conflict with the copyright owner's right to restrict copying. Specifically, certain common activities, such as reading and transferring physical copies of copyrighted works (such as books), are increasingly being viewed as potential acts of copyright infringement when applied to digital copies. This Article explores this conflict by taking a close look at the concept of copy ownership. It argues that conventional notions of physical property ownership play an important, unrecognized role in copyright …


Copyright And "New-Use" Technologies, I. Trotter Hardy Jan 1999

Copyright And "New-Use" Technologies, I. Trotter Hardy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Forum On Attorney's Fees In Copyright Cases: Are We Running Through The Jungle Now Or Is The Old Man Still Stuck Down The Road?, Paul Marcus, David Nimmer Oct 1997

Forum On Attorney's Fees In Copyright Cases: Are We Running Through The Jungle Now Or Is The Old Man Still Stuck Down The Road?, Paul Marcus, David Nimmer

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Computer Ram 'Copies:' Hit Or Myth? Historical Perspectives On Caching As A Microcosm Of Current Copyright Concerns, I. Trotter Hardy Apr 1997

Computer Ram 'Copies:' Hit Or Myth? Historical Perspectives On Caching As A Microcosm Of Current Copyright Concerns, I. Trotter Hardy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Midi Files: Copyright Protection For Computer-Generated Works, Christos P. Badavas Mar 1994

Midi Files: Copyright Protection For Computer-Generated Works, Christos P. Badavas

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Rethinking Originality, Russ Versteeg Mar 1993

Rethinking Originality, Russ Versteeg

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Six Copyright Theories For The Protection Of Computer Object Programs, I. Trotter Hardy Oct 1984

Six Copyright Theories For The Protection Of Computer Object Programs, I. Trotter Hardy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Newspaper Copyright, Joseph M. Cormack Jan 1931

Newspaper Copyright, Joseph M. Cormack

Faculty Publications

This is a report upon the state of the American law prepared for submission to the International Congress of Comparative Law to be held at The Hague, August 2nd to 6th., 1932. The report was prepared at the request of the American committee of the Interiationad Academy of Comparative Law, and is published with the approval of the Academy. The national reports are to form the basis of a general report, not exceeding xo,ooo words in length, covering the general state of the law in regard to the particular topic. Because of the limitations thus involved, it has been necessary …