Law Commons^™

Copyright, Computer Software, And Work Made For Hire, Matthew R. Harris

Michigan Law Review

Prior to the Supreme Court's 1989 decision in Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, the Circuits had disagreed over the question of whether independent contractors could qualify as "employees" under the doctrine. The Fifth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits defined "employee" narrowly, thereby excluding the majority of commissioned works from potential work for hire status. Applying a much broader definition of the term, the Second and Seventh Circuits included virtually all commissioned works as work for hire. The disagreement was not surprising, since the copyright statute does not include a definition of the term, and the legislative history fails to …

Intellectual Property, John C. Yates, Michael W. Mattox

Mercer Law Review

This Article is divided in the following sections: (1) Recent History of Intellectual Property Developments; (2) Trade Secrets; (3) Trademarks and Unfair Competition; (4) Restrictive Covenants and Employment Issues; (5) Copyright and Fine Art; (6) Computer Crime; and, (7) Future Trends. Driven by the explosive growth of technology, the protection of intellectual property in the 1990s will undoubtedly prove to be one of the most dynamic and controversial areas of the law. The state legislature and the United States Congress are considering numerous bills which will affect intellectual property. This area of the law, therefore, requires careful monitoring of legislative …

Realizing The European Community Common Market By Unifying Intellectual Property Law: Deadline 1992, Victor Vandebeek

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Autocephalous Greek-Orthodox Church Of Cyprus V. Goldberg & Feldman Fine Arts, Inc".: Entrenchment Of The Due Diligence Requirement In Replevin Actions For Stolen Art, Stephen L. Foutty

Vanderbilt Law Review

Art prices are reaching spectacular heights. Current estimates place annual worldwide retail sales between ten billion and forty billion dollars;' each auction season, bidders smash previous price records. For example, at a May 9, 1989 Sotheby's auction, a buyer paid 47.9 million dollars for Picasso's self-portrait "Yo-Picasso"; Gaugin's "Mata Mau (In Olden Times)" sold for 24.2 million dollars. The next day at Christie's, an investor purchased a Monet for 14.3 million dollars, twice it's estimated value.' The inflated prices have inspired people without a prior interest in art to conceive a sudden passion for collecting by any available means. As …

Willful Copyright Infringement: In Search Of A Standard, Jeffrey M. Thomas

Washington Law Review

The Copyright Act of 1976 provides for an increase in statutory damages where copyright infringement is willful. Because it is undefined in the Act, the meaning of willfulness is left to judicial interpretation. Courts have disagreed on the proper definition of willfulness and adopted tests that are vague and sometimes inconsistent with the Act's statutory damages provision. This Comment proposes an alternative to the present definitions and tests, and suggests that courts adapt a two-part willfulness test from the patent law test, which requires knowledge and an affirmative duty to investigate.

Fordham University Sesquicentennial 1841-1991 And Dedication, Editorial Board

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Free Press-Fair Trial Conflict–What's A Lawyer To Say?, C. Evan Stewart

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Stranger In Parodies: Weird Al And The Law Of Musical Satire, Charles J. Sanders, Steven R. Gordon

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Federal Preemption Of The Right Of Publicity In Sing-Alike Cases, Leonard A. Wohl

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Antitrust & Professional Sports' Eligibility Rules: The Past, The Present, And The Future, Cathy E. Shore

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Copyright Wrong: The United States' Failure To Provide Copyright Protection For Works Of Architecture

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Draft Of A Labor Theory Of Property - 1990, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

The Supreme Court in several recent cases has flirted with the notion that labor gives one an entitlement to ownership: a legal right to bar others from the fruits of that labor or to extract payment from them if they use the fruits without permission. Sometimes articulated in terms of "natural rights," and sometimes in terms of "fairness," this notion is at apparent odds with contract law's insistence that the only "fruits of labor" one is obligated to pay for are those one has agreed in advance to buy.

Note On Deserving To Be Born - 1990, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

A full reap/sow principle, one that's unsupplemented by any entitlement for need and that extends to both harms and benefits completely, would say that one is not entitled to keep ANYTHING one fails to earn. Including sunlight. Including life itself.

Note On Types Of Corrective Justice - 1990, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

One kind of inquiry is to ask: what weight does the claim to reward have? Another is to ask: what are the built-in limits or expectations (places where the claim to reward has zero weight)?

Note On Deserving The Results Of Labor - 1990, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Munzer's formulation seems to talk in the end about largely consensual arrangements, like working for wages.

Note On Causation And Limited Duration Of Intellectual Property; Also Patent Standards - 1990, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Another causation problem is this: "But for" causation is only one type. It has its own problems. But there are other kinds of cause. In tort law these other kinds of cause are lumped together under the rubric "proximate cause", and the difficulties of "proximate cause" doctrine illustrate some of the difficulties.

What's The Big Idea Behind The Idea-Expression Dichotomy? -- Modern Ramifications Of The Tree Of Porphyry In Copyright Law, Amaury Cruz

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Toward A Jurisprudence Of Benefits: The Norms Of Copyright And The Problem Of Private Censorship, Wendy J. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

For many years copyright was a backwater of the law. Perceived as an esoteric and narrow field beset by hypertechnical formalities, the discipline and its practitioners were largely isolated from scholarly and case law developments in other areas. There were exceptions, of course. Well before the explosion of intellectual property litigation in the last twenty years, persons such as Zechariah Chafee, Jr. and Judge Learned Hand brought a wealth of learning and broad perspective to copyright. But by and large copyright looked only to itself for guidance.

Notes On Misc Re Paper: Property Preemption - 1990, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Sears/Compco said anything not protected by patent copyright etc is not subject to state anti-copying protection. Goldstein says Sears/Compco didn't mean that exactly- rather, states can't control copying where fed statutory policies would be in conflict with the state protection. Section 102b and generations of copyright cases say ideas, systems, etc., are not copyrightable. That wd seem to suggest that even under Goldstein, ideas, etc can't be protected against state law.[1] However, a 1 iteral reading of 301 might suggest Cong decided there should be no preE of such state law protection of ideas.

Book Reviews, Thomas G. Field Jr.

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Reviews of the following books prepared by Thomas G. Field, Jr., Editor-in-Chief of Risk:

Stephen D. Sugarman, Doing Away with Personal Injury Law, (1989).

Chet Fleming, If We can Keep a Severed Head Alive, (1988).

The Truth May Not Set You Free, Robert M. O'Neil

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Notes On Economics Of Suppression - 1990, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

The Treatise suggests that the two major strains in copyright are the economic or instrumental perspective, and the authors' rights perspective. This dual perspective parallels the configuration in property and tort law as a whole, where quandaries such as the suppression problem are sometimes analyzed in terms of whether the individual holding an entitlement is a "steward" entrusted with the resource solely for sake of the social good that is likely to result from his or her productive use of it, or a "sovereign" to be left unregulated in managing the resource.

Proposed Organization And Detailed Table Of Contents - 1990, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

For many years copyright was a backwater of the law. Perceived as an esoteric and narrow field beset by hypertechnical formalities, the discipline and its practitioners were largely isolated from scholarly and case law developments in other areas. There were exceptions of course. Well before the explosion of intellectual property litigation in the last twenty years, persons such as Zcharia Chaffee Jr. and Judge Learned Hand brought a wealth of learning and a broad perspective to copyright.

Draft Of New Versus Old Authors - 1990, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Virtually all the issues canvassed above embody the tension that exists in seeking to honor the interests of two generations of creators. For example, the essay has discussed the need for new adaptive artists to have a copyright in their own productions and the dangers that the "subconscious copying rule" poses to new creators, particularly in an age of ubiquitous media.

In The Aftermath Of Johnson And Eichman: The Constitution Need Not Be Mutilated To Preserve The Government's Speech And Property Interests In The Flag, Douglas W. Kmiec

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Territorial Scope Of Trademark Rights, William Jay Gross

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Idea, Process, Or Protected Expression?: Determining The Scope Of Copyright Protection Of The Structure Of Computer Programs, Steven R. Englund

Michigan Law Review

Courts considering the alleged copying of the structure, rather than literal copying of the text, of a computer program have usually concerned themselves with whether protected expression or an unprotected idea was copied. Courts have seldom suggested that it might be an unprotected process that was copied. However, this Note concludes that the legislative history of the 1976 Act indicates that that legislation's drafters envisioned a far more prominent role for the process-expression dichotomy than it has played to date. The process inquiry is at least as important as the idea inquiry in striking the proper balance between promoting progress …

Testimony: Joint Hearing On H.R. 4263 & S. 2370, Roger J. Miner '56

Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

California Lawyers For The Arts, Alma Robinson

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

What Is Art - Toward A Legal Definition, Leonard D. Duboff

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

A great number of unresolved issues arise in the relatively new field of art law. The author considers several areas of the law, including copyright, customs, state and federal moral and economic rights statutes, and state consignment statutes in order to develop a legal definition of "art." This Article concludes that this definition depends on who does the defining; however, common threads exist. Some sort of originality on the part of the work is required. Additionally, legislators faced with defining art are consistently concerned with the scope of the definition. The author believes a definition that attempts to include more …