Law Commons^™

Owning Music: From Publisher's Privilege To Composer's Copyright, Michael W. Carroll

ExpressO

More than four years after Napster demonstrated the power of the Internet as a means of distributing music, we still are in the midst of a cultural and legal debate about what the respective rights of music copyright owners, follow-on creators, disseminators, and purchasers should be. A common assumption underlying much of the debate is that whatever settlement emerges, it will apply equally to all forms of expression. This Article questions that assumption by investigating the early history of copyright in music.

For the first time in legal scholarship, the Article reveals and examines the distinct early history of copyright …

The Democratic Public Domain: Reconnecting The Modern First Amendment And The Original Progress Clause (A.K.A. Copyright And Patent Clause), Malla Pollack

ExpressO

If the Progress Clause, a.k.a. the Patent and Copyright Clause, of the U.S. Constitution had been construed when its original meaning was still obvious, United States law would be far different. In this area at least, the Drafters’ Constitution was much less aristocratic than the modern (mis)reading. The original meaning of the Progress Clause, furthermore, should have stimulated a more communitarian First Amendment, the type of First Amendment currently being suggested by leading First Amendment scholars such as Jack Balkin.

Whose Music Is It Anyway? How We Came To View Musical Expression As A Form Of Property, Michael W. Carroll

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Many participants in the music industry consider unauthorized transmissions of music files over the Internet to be theft of their property. Many Internet users who exchange music files reject this characterization. Prompted by the dispute over unauthorized music distribution, this Article explores how those who create and distribute music first came to look upon music as their property and when in Western history the law first supported this view. By analyzing the economic and legal structures governing music making in Western Europe from the classical period in Greece through the Renaissance, the Article shows that the law first granted some …

Copyright And Free Expression: The Convergence Of Conflicting Normative Frameworks, Shyamkrishna Balganesh

All Faculty Scholarship

Recent attempts to expand the domain of copyright law in different parts of the world have necessitated renewed efforts to evaluate the philosophical justifications that are advocated for its existence as an independent institution. Copyright, conceived of as a proprietary institution, reveals an interesting philosophical interaction with other libertarian interests, most notably the right to free expression. This paper seeks to understand the nature of this interaction and the resulting normative decisions. The paper seeks to analyze copyright law and its recent expansions, specifically from the perspective of the human rights discourse. It looks at the historical origins of modern …