Law Commons^™

Briefing Cases: Session On Copyright Law, Lynn Mclain

All Faculty Scholarship

This handout contains the decision from Walt Disney Productions v. Air Pirates, 581 F.2d 751 (1978), suggested elements for how to brief a case in general, and an example brief for the Air Pirates case.

Yours For Keeps: Mgm V. Grokster, Max Oppenheimer

All Faculty Scholarship

In MGM v. Grokster, now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, all parties have made the assumption that most P2P file transfers infringe copyrights. Two theories contradict that assumption: a significant number of individuals who transfer files over P2P networks may have a license to do so, and the Copyright Act itself may exempt the transfer of certain categories of entertainment files over P2P networks from the definition of infringement.

Communicating Entitlements: Property And The Internet, William Hubbard

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Thoughts On Dastar From A Copyright Perspective: A Welcome Step Toward Respite For The Public Domain, Lynn Mclain

All Faculty Scholarship

Though other questions remain unresolved and other leaks unstemmed, Dastar is a welcome step towards regaining the public domain, and towards establishing that the confines of the public domain, with regard to nondeceptive reproduction of public domain works, and preparation of derivative works based upon them, must be delimited by only the copyright and patent laws.

This article will provide a background discussion of the copyright and patent schemes and their delineation of the public domain. It then will discuss the role of trademark law in that balance, and some of the case law regarding both § 43 of the …

Law Reviews And Technology: Copyright Law From Noah Webster To Tasini And The Importance Of Written Contracts, Lynn Mclain

All Faculty Scholarship

This handout from a 2001 presentation for the National Conference of Law Reviews outlines the intersection between copyright and contract law, particularly as it pertains to authors assigning the copyright of law review articles to the journal publishing the article.

Copyright Corner: The Adoption Of Ucita In Maryland, Harvey K. Morrell

All Faculty Scholarship

In the December 1999 issue of AALL Spectrum, Charles Cronin provided a fine overview of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) and its potential impact on libraries. As he indicated, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) offered UCITA to several state legislatures for consideration, with Maryland and Virginia vying to become the first state to enact it. Virginia, whose legislative session began a couple of months before Maryland’s and whose process did not allow much opposition, was first across the line. However, one amendment, included near the end of the process, delayed implementation of the …

The Copyright Notice Requirement In The United States: A Proposed Amendment Concerning Deliberate Omissions Of Notice, Lynn Mclain

All Faculty Scholarship

Outside the United States, many countries take the position that an

author owns the copyright to his or her work simply by virtue of having

created it; copyright protection is not conditioned on compliance with

notice or other formalities. 1 The United States, however, has historically

required copyright notice to be placed on works which are published.

Judge Friendly succinctly explained the American position: "The notice

requirement serves an important public purpose; the copyright proprietor

is protected so long and only so long as he gives effective warning to

trespassers that they are entering on forbidden ground.