Law Commons^™

Podcasting Pop Songs?: Licensing Concerns With Podcasts That Contain Mainstream Music, Jared Barrett

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Podcasting is a new distribution medium that allows a vast array of users to transmit audio or video programs (“podcasts”) to wide audiences. Typically, recipients use handheld devices, such as an iPod, or personal computer to capture and retain a podcast for later playback. Podcasts are diverse in form and content, ranging from talk-radio shows to political speeches to educational programs. One area of content that has been slow to develop, however, is the inclusion of mainstream music in podcasts. Many podcasters have avoided the use of mainstream music altogether because of difficulties in determining how podcasting music fits within …

Broadening The Scope Of Electronic Reproductions: The Interpretation Of Section 201(C) In Faulkner V. National Geographic Enterprises Inc., Shan Sivalingam

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

This Article analyzes the implications of the recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Faulkner v. National Geographic Enterprises Inc. The court interpreted § 201(c) of the federal Copyright Act to permit National Geographic to compile print issues of its magazine into a CD-ROM digital archive without explicit permission from freelance authors who contributed to the print issues. The court’s decision has raised concern among freelance journalists and photographers who contribute works to newspapers and other periodicals that compile copyrighted works. This Article outlines significant features of the Faulkner decision and analyzes it …

The Power Of The Well-Known Trademark: Courts Should Consider Article 6bis Of The Paris Convention An Integrated Part Of Section 44 Of The Lanham Act, Brandon Barker

Washington Law Review

The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property outlines important international trademark principles for its signatory nations, including the United States. Specifically, article 6bis of the Paris Convention creates the well-known marks doctrine, a provision that allows foreign owners of well-known trademarks to bring infringement actions against citizens of other member nations using the same or similar trade names. Such foreign trademark holders can assert these rights regardless of whether their mark is directly used or registered in the native country of the alleged infringer. Although the Paris Convention provides a list of trademark rights within its articles, the …

Easy Come, Easy Go: Copyright Infringement And The Dmca's Notice And Takedown Provision In Light Of Rossi V. Mpaa, Lawrence F. Rozsnyai

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

In Rossi v. Motion Picture Association of America Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently held that the notice and takedown provision of the DMCA requires a subjective “good faith” belief that a website is infringing copyrighted material, and not an objective showing by the complaining party. A subjective standard for notice and takedown may do less to promote collaboration between service providers and copyright owners, judicial economy, or fair website management than would an objective standard requiring a minimal degree of investigation. This article concludes, however, that a subjective standard is supported by the …

The Failures And Promises Of Canada's Alternative Compensation System For Private Reproduction Of Copyrighted Recordings, Evgenia Fkiaras

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Canada’s copyright system imposes a levy on manufacturers and importers of blank audio recording media. Revenue raised by this levy goes to the eligible owners of musical copyright—rightsholders. Thus, Canada squarely faces the reality of the modern age by acknowledging that users will duplicate copyrighted material at the same time that it attempts to guarantee compensation to certain rightsholders. Like its counterpart, the American Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, this system has certain fundamental flaws. What these flaws indicate about the future of copyright law is unclear.

Giving Intellectual Property, Xuan-Thao Nguyen, Jeffrey A. Maine

Articles

The interdisciplinarity of intellectual property and taxation poses many challenges to the disparate existing norms in each respective field of law. This Article identifies and critiques the current tax regime governing the giving of intellectual property as a manifestation of the failure to understand the principles and policies underlying intellectual property and the firm. It proposes an economic, incentives-based system that would encourage firms to extricate part of their repository of residual rights by surrendering their monopolistic ownership of intellectual property for the benefit of charitable organizations and, in turn, the development and growth of society.

The Use Of Mtas To Control Commercialization Of Stem Cell Diagnostics And Therapeutics, Sean O'Connor

Articles

The recent focus on patents as a hindrance to stem cell research may turn out to be a red herring. The real culprits are material transfer agreements (MTAs), which govern the transfer of cell lines and other biological materials. The MTA’s primary purpose in life sciences research is to set contractual rights and obligations between parties where one party transfers biological materials to the other. For example, MTAs often focus on the physical handling, use, and distribution of the materials by the recipient, ensuring that the recipient complies with regulations for research involving humans or animals.

Although these interests are …