Law Commons^™

Feeling Cute, Might [Have To] Delete Later: Defending Against The Modern Day Copyright Troll, Austin Joseph

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

The age-old clash between celebrities and paparazzi has reached a new high. With the trend moving towards the monetization of social media, evolution in mobile camera technology, and lighting-fast sharing capabilities, the need for paparazzi decreases with each year. Because paparazzi want to remain desirable, the infamous conduct of “copyright trolling” is sweeping the intellectual property scene. “Copyright trolling” is the act of searching social media and suing multiple celebrities when the celebrity post a photo of themselves without first paying the licensing fee. Within this year alone, multiple celebrities like Rebel Wilson, Ariana Grande, and Liam Hemsworth have been …

"You Got Too Much Dip On Your Chip!" How Stagnant Copyright Law Is Stifling Creativity, Taylor Bussey

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Over time, our concept of what qualifies as an author has changed–specifically with the dominance of the internet. Tangentially, our idea of what it means to be a joint author has changed. What once would have required physical proximity now can be accomplished via the internet in a matter of seconds. Authors from all around the globe can collaborate. Geographic limitations present virtually no constraint on the number of individuals that can contribute to a work. Human creativity, however, has remained the same. When creating, authors naturally draw on their human experience. Without tailoring modern copyright law to modern trends …

Who Owns The Law? Why We Must Restore Public Ownership Of Legal Publishing, Leslie A. Street, David R. Hansen

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Each state has its own method for officially publishing the law. This article looks at the history of legal publishing for the fifty states before looking at how legal publishing even in moving to electronic publishing may not ensure public access to the law. The article addresses barriers to free access to the law in electronic publishing including copyright, contract law, and potentially, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The article concludes with prescriptions for how different actors, including state governments, publishers, libraries, and others can ensure robust public access to the law moving forward.

The Modern Fight For Media Freedom In The United States, Jonathan Peters

Scholarly Works

The First Amendment as a subject is challenging and provocative, and scholarly and popular understandings of it are changing. New communication technologies are pushing lawyers, judges, and scholars to revisit, and sometimes rethink, old legal doctrines and concepts. In the area of privacy, we have to think today about encryption and a website's terms of service. In the area of copyright, we have to think about peer-to-peer file sharing and the licenses granted by iTunes. In the area of sexual expression, we have to think about sexting, revenge porn, and deep fakes.'

This is the emerging state of play for …