Law Commons^™

Three Reactions To Mgm V. Grokster, Pamela Samuelson

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

It was prescient of the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review to have organized a conference to discuss the Supreme Court's decision in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. v. Grokster, Inc. As the articles in this issue reveal, commentators have had somewhat mixed reactions to the Grokster decision. Perhaps I am the most mixed (or mixed up) about Grokster among its commentators, for I have had not just one but three reactions to the Grokster decision. My first reaction was to question whether MGM and its co-plaintiffs really won the Grokster case, or at least won it in the way they had hoped. …

File Sharing, Copyright, And The Optimal Production Of Music, Gerald R. Faulhaber

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Much economic, political, judicial and legal attention has been showered on the significant changes currently taking place within the music production and distribution business forced by the use of the Internet for both file sharing (of unauthorized copyrighted material) and more recent online (legal) music distribution. The strong demand for music, coupled with the low cost of distributing illegal copies via peer-to-peer (P2P) systems, is unraveling the business model by which music has traditionally been created, developed, and distributed. Application of traditional copyright law has been ineffective in stopping the loss of business in the traditional channels. Producers have implemented …

The Intent Element Of Inducement To Infringe Under Patent Law: Reflections On Grokster, Lynda J. Oswald

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

In June, 2005, the United States Supreme Court set forth an "inducement" rule in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. that imposes secondary liability on "one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement." The Court emphasized the limitations of the liability standard it was setting forth, stating that the target was only "purposeful, culpable expression and conduct, and thus does nothing to compromise legitimate commerce or discourage innovation having a lawful promise." Yet, the liability standard set forth in Grokster …

Trends In Protection For Informational Works Under Copyright Law During The 19th And 20th Centuries, Miriam Bitton

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The debate over databases protection has failed to identify and discuss some of its most basic and preliminary assumptions, accepting instead many of the historical aspects involved as given. This Article therefore seeks to challenge these underlying assumptions by providing a fresh look at the historical dimension of the debate. One common argument regarding database protection is that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Feist v. Rural Publications Inc. brought about a dramatic change in the legal landscape, displacing the then-accepted "sweat of the brow" rationale for protecting rights in databases. This Article's historical analysis therefore thoroughly examines the treatment …

The Temporal Dynamics Of Capable Of Substantial Noninfringing Uses, R. Anthony Reese

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The copyright issues raised by "dual-use" technologies--equipment that can be used both in ways that infringe copyright and in ways that do not--first gained prominence in connection with the litigation over videocassette recorders that culminated in the Supreme Court's decision in Sony in 1984. Copyright owners had asserted that Sony's manufacture and distribution of VCRs rendered it liable for copyright infringement committed by customers using their Sony VCRs. The Supreme Court in Sony concluded that copyright law did not impose such secondary liability where the device in question was capable of substantial noninfringing uses (and that the VCR was such …

The Half-Fairness Of Google's Plan To Make The World's Collection Of Books Searchable, Steven Hetcher

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Google's major new initiative is to undertake the task of digitizing the world's collection of books so as to make them searchable. The very idea is audacious, but what is more so is that Google plans to copy without first seeking the permission of the owners of these works. Google Print would make available what is, by conventional measures at least, the highest grade of information--books produced by millions of the world's leading scholars. This is in stark contrast to the inconsistent quality spectrum one encounters through other online sources such as peer-to-peer networks and blogs, where there currently exists …

21st Century Copyright Law In The Digital Domain Symposium Transcript, Symposium Panelists

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

21st Century Copyright Law in the Digital Domain Symposium held at Universtiy of Michigan Law School Friday, March 24, 2006

Intellectual Property Rights In Advertising, Lisa P. Ramsey

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Before the twentieth century, U.S. courts refused to protect copyright in advertisements. Until the middle of the twentieth century, advertising slogans generally were not registered or protected under U.S. trademark law. Today, firms can acquire copyright protection in advertising and there is no categorical rule against trademark registration or protection of slogans. This Article questions whether this extension of copyright protection to advertising and trademark protection to slogans has a satisfactory utilitarian justification[...] If it is too difficult to completely eliminate copyright protection of advertising, Congress should at least consider reducing such protection to increase the free flow of advertising …

Recent Developments In Copyright Law: Selected U.S. Supreme Court, Court Of Appeals, And District Court Opinions Between February 1, 2005 And May 1, 2006, Tyler T. Ochoa

Faculty Publications

This article highlights nine U.S. copyright law decisions handed down between February 1, 2005 and May 1, 2006. This review was originally delivered as a speech at The 50th Annual Conference of Developments in Intellectual Property Law held by The John Marshall Law School Center for Intellectual Property Law on May 26, 2006. Discussing a wide range of cases from peer-to-peer file sharing to standing, the analysis focuses on the most recent developments in copyright.

How The Other Half Lives (Revisited): Twenty Years Since Midler V. Ford - A Global Perspective On The Right Of Publicity, Alain Lapter

ExpressO

For celebrities, name and image are, arguably, two of their most valuable assets. From headlining a movie, to starring in a commercial, to endorsing a product, a celebrity’s persona is potentially worth thousands to millions of dollars. However, this intangible commodity’s worth is often siphoned off by those who appropriate a celebrity’s name or image without authorization or remuneration, thus potentially decreasing the property’s value. In order to stifle this unjust enrichment, celebrities greatly desire the absolute right to control the commercial exploitation of their name and likeness.

In this article, I examine the current state of the right of …

Thieves In Cyberspace: Examining Music Piracy And Copyright Law Deficiencies In Russia As It Enters The Digital Age, Michael Mertens

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Correct-Like Decision In United States V. Martifnon, David Patton

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Copyright, Technology & The Boston Strangler: The Seventh Circuit And The Future Of Online Music Access, Jeffrey J. Escher

Seventh Circuit Review

The United States Supreme Court previously ruled that recording television programs or movies using Betamax or VHS tapes does not constitute copyright infringement. However, the Supreme Court recently held that downloading music from a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing network does constitute copyright infringement. Thus, federal district court decisions are now targeting individuals who illegally download music from these networks and entering large monetary judgments against them. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is upholding these judgments. This article discusses the difference between video taping and downloading and why is there a discrepancy in terms of copyright law.

Evaluate Patentability Of Your Invention, Umakant Mishra

Umakant Mishra

The patent system is designed to encourage inventions that are useful to society by granting inventors absolute right to make profit from their inventions. While disclosing the invention benefits the society, protecting the invention benefits the inventor. But patents cannot protect each and every person who conceives an invention. While there are some common criteria of accepting an invention for patenting, the laws of patenting differ from country to country to some extent. The concept of patentability is also very vague in some instances of the legal system. Hence it is important to check the patentability of your invention in …

Global Copyright, Local Speech, Michael Dan Birnhack

ExpressO

Copyright is no longer a matter of "promoting the progress of science" in the words of the U.S. Constitution. It is now more than ever before a matter of trade. Furthermore, under the WTO's TRIPS Agreement, we now have a global copyright (G©) regime.

The globalization of copyright law destabilized previous balances. The shift to a trade environment requires us to reevaluate the previous balance. The concern explored in this article is that the old foundations will collapse under the heavy weight of global forces. The concern is that local culture, access to information, research and free speech in general, …

War And Peace: The 34th Annual Donald C. Brace Lecture, Jessica D. Litman

Other Publications

I'd like to thank the Copyright Society and the Brace committee for inviting me to speak to you this evening. I am honored that you invited me to give this lecture. I want to talk a little bit about war - copyright war - and then I want to talk a little bit about peace. It's become conventional that we're in the middle of a copyright war.' I tried to track down who started calling it that, and what I can tell you is that about ten years ago, about the time that copyright lawyers everywhere were arguing about the …

One On The Nose For Bellure: French Appellate Court Confirms That Perfumes Are Copyright Protected, Estelle Derclaye

Estelle Derclaye

No abstract provided.

Ecj Clarifies Collecting Societies Rights In Relation To The Cable Retransmission Right But Leaves Some Questions Unanswered, Estelle Derclaye

Estelle Derclaye

No abstract provided.

The Economics Of Open Access Law Publishing, Jessica D. Litman

Articles

The conventional model of scholarly publishing uses the copyright system as a lever to induce commercial publishers and printers to disseminate the results of scholarly research. Recently, we have seen a number of high-profile experiments seeking to use one of a variety of forms of open access scholarly publishing to develop an alternative model. Critics have not quarreled with the goals of open access publishing; instead, they've attacked the viability of the open access business model. If we are examining the economics of open access publishing, we shouldn't limit ourselves to the question whether open access journals have fielded a …

Harnessing And Sharing The Benefits Of State-Sponsored Research: Intellectual Property Rights And Data Sharing In California's Stem Cell Initiative, Rebecca S. Eisenberg, Arti K. Rai

Articles

This Article discusses data sharing in California's stem cell initiative against the background of other data sharing efforts and in light of the competing interests that CIRM is directed to balance. We begin by considering how IP law affects data sharing. We then assess the strategic considerations that guide the IP and data policies and strategies of federal, state, and private research sponsors. With this background, we discuss four specific sets of issues that public sponsors of data-rich research, including CIRM, are likely to confront: (1) how to motivate researchers to contribute data; (2) who should have access to the …

Co-Blogging Law, Eric Goldman

Faculty Publications

Abstract: Bloggers often work collaboratively with other bloggers, a phenomenon I call "co-blogging. " The decision to co-blog may seem casual, but it can have significant and unexpected legal consequences forthe co-bloggers. This essay looks at some of these consequences under partnership law, employment law, and copyright law and explains how each of these legal doctrines can lead to counterintuitive results. The essay then discusses some recommendations to mitigate the harshness of these results.

Digital Copyright, Jessica D. Litman

Books

In 1998, copyright lobbyists succeeded in persuading Congress to enact laws greatly expanding copyright owners' control over individuals' private uses of their works. The efforts to enforce these new rights have resulted in highly publicized legal battles between established media and new upstarts.

In this book, law professor Jessica Litman questions whether copyright laws crafted by lawyers and their lobbyists really make sense for the vast majority of us. Should every interaction between ordinary consumers and copyright-protected works be restricted by law? Is it practical to enforce such laws, or expect consumers to obey them? What are the effects of …

Termination Of Transfer Of Copyright: Able To Leap Trademarks In A Singe Bound?, Lauren Beth Emerson

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Kernochan Center News - Summer 2006, Kernochan Center For Law, Media And The Arts

Kernochan Center for Law, Media, and the Arts

No abstract provided.

Liberating Estates Law From The Constraints Of Copyright, Lee-Ford Tritt

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article addresses a disturbing statutory phenomenon of enormous importance to any artist, composer, writer, scholar, scientist or innovator. The phenomenon, which I have termed “estate-bumping,” has driven an unintended wedge between copyright law and estates law by effectively preventing authors of copyrights from disposing of their copyright interests through common estate planning mechanisms. Current copyright law imposes a unique restraint on the testamentary freedom of copyright authors, a restraint not imposed on any other type of property owner. In effect, this restraint enables unintended beneficiaries to rewrite, or “bump”, an author’s estate plan. Thus, it is copyright law – …

The Story Of Sony V. Universal Studios: Mary Poppins Meets The Boston Strangler., Jessica Litman

Book Chapters

Sony v. Universal Studios may be the most famous of all copyright cases. People who know nothing about copyright know that the Sony-Betamax case held that home videotaping of television programs is fair use. Paradoxically, although the Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case to decide whether the copyright law permitted consumers to engage in private home copying of television programs, the majority ended up crafting its analysis to avoid answering that question definitively. Instead, it ruled that even if consumers sometimes violated the copyright law when they taped television programs off the air, that violation did not make the …