Law Commons^™

Cablevision's Remote Dv-R System And A Solution For The Digital-Recording Age, Justin M. Jacobson

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sampling, Looping, And Mashing . . . Oh My!: How Hip Hop Music Is Scratching More Than The Surface Of Copyright Law, Tonya M. Evans

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

This article examines the deleterious impact of copyright law on music creation. It highlights hip hop music as an example of a genre significantly and negatively impacted by 1) the per se infringement rule applied in some instances to cases involving unauthorized sampling of sound recordings; and 2) traditional (and arguably erroneous) assumptions in copyright law and policy of independent creation and Romantic authorship. For decades hip hop producers have relied on the innovative use of existing recordings (most of which are protected by copyright), to create completely new works. Specifically, cuttin’ and scratchin’, digital sampling, looping and (most recently) …

The Story Of A Character: Establishing The Limits Of Independent Copyright Protection For Literary Characters, Samuel J. Coe

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Copyright law provides writers with a way to protect their original works of authorship, but courts often disagree over the scope of this protection and how far it can be extended for the fictional characters appearing within literary works. Characters like Holden Caulfield and James Bond have become extremely valuable forms of intellectual property, but even for such iconic figures it can be difficult to separate the character from the story to determine where one work ends and the other begins. To address this issue, the Second Circuit follows the "distinctly delineated" test, which asks whether a character has been …

Heavy Metal Alloys: Unsigned Rock Bands And Joint Work, Michael S. Young

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This note uses humorous illustrations culled from the history of popular heavy metal music to facilitate examination of the effectiveness of joint authorship analysis by modern federal courts. The note carefully considers a variety of common contributions made by band members in the absence of any written or verbal agreement about authorship, and concludes (1) that a more equitable regime would do away with the requirement that a co-author make an "independently copyrightable" contribution, and (2) that courts must take greater care not to transform "will to control" into "intent to be a sole author."

Promoting Progress With Fair Use, Joshua N. Mitchell

Duke Law Journal

The Intellectual Property (IP) Clause provides that Congress has the power "to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." In the realm of copyright, Congress and the courts have interpreted the clause as granting Congress a power not to promote progress but to establish limited IP monopolies. To return to an understanding of the IP power better grounded in the constitutional text, Congress and the courts should ensure that any IP enactment "promote[s] ... Progress" by considering whether it improves the …

Copyright First Sale And The Overriding Role Of Contract, Raymond T. Nimmer

Santa Clara Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Continuing Vitality Of The Presumption Of Irreparable Harm In Copyright Cases, Andrew F. Spillane

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Property has long enjoyed civil enforcement through a potent remedy: the permanent injunction. For decades, federal courts across the country roundly granted permanent relief upon finding infringement and a threat of future infringement of one type of property: copyrights. Beyond these showings, a prevailing plaintiff in a copyright infringement case would not have to prove the cornerstone of equitable relief—irreparable harm—to obtain an injunction. But after the U.S. Supreme Court¹s decision in eBay v. MercExchange, some courts have abandoned this truncated equitable inquiry. In its place, the lower federal courts now apply eBay's four-factor test to determine whether a copyright …

Transformation In Property And Copyright, Christopher M. Newman

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Finding A Home For Orphans: Google Book Search And Orphan Works Law In The United States And Europe, Katharina De La Durantaye

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

The Google Books case and its proposed settlement have provoked heated debate. Objections to the settlement proposals have come from virtually all sides—from Google’s competitors to public interest organizations, state attorneys general, the U.S. Department of Justice, and even foreign countries such as France and Germany. While it is impossible to know what the terms of the final settlement will be, it is already clear that one of the settlement’s most important consequences will be how it changes the orphan works debate, both in the United States and in Europe. This Article argues that the Google Books case offers an …

Copyright Enforcement In The Cloud, Marc Aaron Melzer

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Drawing A Line In The Sand: Copyright Law And New Museums, Megan M. Carpenter

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Over the last twenty years, audience attendance at museums, galleries, and performing arts institutions in the United States has decreased dramatically. Major museums and galleries are considering ways to add engaging and meaningful value to the user experience with technology, from incorporating user-generated content to creating multimedia installations billed as "collaborative" works.

In 2010, the Dallas Museum of Art's Coastlines: Images of Land and Sea exhibition featured landscapes from 1850 to the present, as well as a sound installation composed by students and faculty at a local university, which played on speakers throughout the show and responded directly to the …

The Anti-Bootlegging Provisions: Congressional Power And Constitutional Limitations, Craig W. Dallon

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Courts and scholars have considered the constitutional validity of 17 U.S.C. § 1101 (civil), and 18 U.S.C. § 2319A (criminal), known together as "the anti-bootlegging provisions." These provisions prohibit unauthorized recording, copying, and distribution of live musical performances. The provisions have been challenged in three cases, resulting in five published opinions. Two district court opinions held the provisions unconstitutional, but subsequent opinions vacated those decisions. Notwithstanding a sharp division among copyright scholars, the courts have upheld these provisions. The discussion surrounding them is part of a continuing struggle to ascertain limits on congressional power to regulate copying and distribution of …

Copyright In Memoriam, Julie C. Young

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Can a government infringe upon a work dedicated to the memory of its people? The February 2010 Federal Circuit decision "Gaylord v. United States" addresses that question, but any satisfaction from the decision presupposes that the government should be held liable for such an infringement. Consistent with the 1976 Copyright Act, the Gaylord decision preserves the author's rights, paying no regard to the identity of the audience or the infringer. From a policy perspective, however, the result is dubious. Arguably, if a work is a public memorial, and paid for with public funds, it should immediately enter the public domain. …

Cyberspace, Exceptionalism, And Innocent Copyright Infringement, Jacqueline D. Lipton

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Direct copyright infringement attracts strict liability. However, as a theoretical matter, it is not necessarily clear why. Legislatures and courts have typically imposed strict liability where: (a) a defendant has notice of a plaintiff's rights, particularly where those rights involve a property interest; (b) a mens rea requirement on the part of the defendant would create an untenable burden on the plaintiff; (c) it is easier for the defendant to avoid harming the plaintiff than it is for the plaintiff to avoid the harm; or, (d) it is more administratively or economically efficient for the defendant to bear the risk …

Trips Enforcement And Developing Countries, Peter K. Yu

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Touching And Concerning Copyright: Real Property Reasoning In Mdy Industries, Inc. V. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., Molly Shaffer Van Houweling

Santa Clara Law Review

No abstract provided.

D Is For Digitize: An Introduction, James Grimmelmann

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fulfilling The Copyright Social Justice Promise: Digitizing Textual Information, Lateef Mtima, Steven D. Jamar

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Orphan Works And The Google Book Search Settlement: An International Perspective, Bernard Lang

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Google Book Settlement And The Fair Use Counterfactual, Matthew Sag

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.