Law Commons^™

Normalizing Copyright In The Electronic Environment, Vicenç Feliú

Vicenç Feliú

This article is an update of an article written by Professor Ann Bartow in 2003 entitled Electrifying Copyright Norms and Making Cyberspace More Like a Book. In Electrifying Bartow examined the social norms applied when using copyrighted works in the analog world, she explains how social norms develop, coalesce, and become de facto rules of behavior. She proposed that, at the time the article was written, real world copyright norms were not making their way into cyberspace because copyright holders were using their own normative view to exercise control of works embodied in electronic formats. She focused on non-profit libraries …

A “License To Read”: The Effect Of E-Books On Publishers, Libraries, And The First Sale Doctrine, Rachel A. Berube

Rachel A Berube

E-books are rapidly displacing sales of books and transforming the way the American public understands and accesses information. Yet as e-books grow in popularity, the threat of piracy grows alongside them. Thousands of people search for pirated books online every day, and more are likely to follow as e-books become the norm rather than the exception. To displace this threat, publishers convinced Congress to abandon the first sale doctrine in favor of a market theory that allowed publishers to license, rather than sell, their copyrighted works.

Yet a decade later, Congress’ decision has not only failed to ensure publishers’ continued …

The Case For Collaborative Tools: Long Distance Teamwork On A Shoestring Budget, Jessica De Perio Wittman, Lucie Olejnikova

Jessica de Perio Wittman

An article written on how to create podcasts using readily-available technology, and how to use these podcasts in legal education.

Internet Infoglut And Invisible Ink: Spamdexing Search Engines With Meta Tags, Ira Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

This Article addresses 'spamdexing,' namely, the practice of stuffing invisible keywords into webpages in order to try to get more favorable listings with search engines. For instance, some website owners will stuff the trademarks of competitors into a webpage’s code, particularly by using 'meta tags,' indexing keywords that can be hidden in a webpage’s source code. Although meta tags are not typically viewed by users, the code can be read by search engines, with the result that webpages may be improperly boosted in search engine rankings. Such practices can confuse the public and have also spurred trademark lawsuits. But the …