Law Commons^™

A Three-Tiered Public Policy Approach To Copyright Misuse In The Context Of Tying Arrangements, Sandy Azer

Fordham Law Review

Over two decades since the copyright misuse doctrine was first recognized in Lasercomb America, Inc. v. Reynolds, a uniform approach for determining whether a specific behavior constitutes misuse still does not exist. Circuit courts have commonly applied two competing approaches to the misuse analysis. One approach centers on the public policy underlying copyrights; the other approach centers on antitrust principles. This Note explores relevant jurisprudence and elucidates the shortfalls of each approach. It then proposes a compromise that underscores the interplay between copyright and antitrust laws. The proposed resolution aims to provide a much–needed uniform misuse analysis that does …

Appropriation And Transformation, Darren Hudson Hick

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

The recent decision in Cariou v. Prince has reinvigorated a pressing issue for the contemporary movement of appropriation art: how can art which is defined by its taking from other artworks hope to survive in the world of copyright? In this article, I consider the legal history leading to the Cariou case, including a series of suits brought against appropriation artist Jeff Koons, as well as strategies proposed by several theorists for accommodating appropriation art within the law. Unfortunately, largely due to vagaries of the law and the misunderstood nature of appropriation art, the matter remains unresolved. I argue that, …

Reexamining Two Pesos, Qualitex, & Wal-Mart: A Different Approach…Or Perhaps Just Old Abercrombie Wine In A New Bottle?, Russ Versteeg

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

In Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Bros., Inc., 529 U.S. 205 (2000), the United States Supreme Court held that, in order for a product design to be protectable under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act, the product design must first acquire a secondary meaning. Writing for the Court, Justice Scalia, reasoned that consumers, as a rule, do not expect a product’s design to serve as an indicator of source. The Court stated that product designs, like colors, do not ordinarily operate as source indicators, and that is why the Court established its rule that a product design must acquire a …

Asserting Patents To Combat Infringement Via 3d Printing: It’S No “Use”, Daniel Harris Brean

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Three-dimensional ("3D") printing technology, which enables physical objects to be "printed" as easily as words can be printed on a page, is rapidly moving from industrial settings into consumers' homes. The advent of consumer grade 3D printers fundamentally alters the traditional allocation of manufacturing infrastructure and sales activity. No longer do manufacturers need to make, sell, and ship physical products in their physical states. Rather, consumers may download digital representations of products over the Internet for printing in the comfort their own homes. For products sold in this fashion that are patented, this presents difficult hurdles to enforcement against infringers. …

Access Denied: How Social Media Accounts Fall Outside The Scope Of Intellectual Property Law And Into The Realm Of The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act, Tiffany Miao

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

This note addresses the challenge of applying intellectual property laws to determining ownership rights over social media accounts, specifically in the employer and employee context. This note suggests that IP regimes, namely Trademark, Copyright,and Trade Secrets, fail to provide an adequate framework for determining such ownership rights. Instead, this note proposes that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act serves as a more appropriate legal framework.

The Incompatibility Of Droit De Suite With Common Law Theories Of Copyright, Alexander Bussey

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Although proponents have recently been attempting to strengthen droit de suite, or artists' resale royalty rights, throughout the world, all laws based on the right are flawed — so much so that further implementation would have almost none of the positive effects that its sponsors hope for. This is to say that droit de suite, which is meant to protect young artists, actually discourages the creation of art by young artists, and reduces the amount of money an artist can make from a sale. Furthermore, droit de suite conflicts with basic common law notions of copyright and property and is …

Code-Ifying Copyright: An Architectural Solution To Digitally Expanding The First Sale Doctrine, Evan Hess

Fordham Law Review

As the internet blossomed into ubiquity, piracy mushroomed with it. To control the threat, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA created a number of safeguards for copyright holders. But the DMCA purposely ignored whether copyright holders could restrict future transfers of their legally purchased work—a concept known in physical property as the “first sale doctrine.” As a result, copyright holders began using licenses to control future transfers of their digital property.

This was not the first time copyright holders have attempted to gain greater control over their work. The history of copyright law demonstrates a pattern …

News On The Internet, Robert Denicola

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Newspapers are in trouble. Circulation and advertising are down as readers shift from print to online media. Although changing reader preferences and the loss of lucrative classified advertising to online sources are major worries, the news media seems preoccupied with news aggregators and bloggers who distribute news content on the internet without permission. Newspapers are not the only ones worried about the unauthorized distribution of "their" news on the internet. Financial services companies are unhappy about the distribution of their "hot" stock recommendations and other content providers seek to control online news ranging from movie schedules to business ratings. Traditional …

The Economics Of Kirtsaeng V. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: The Efficiency Of A Balanced Approach To The First Sale Doctrine, Guy A. Rub

Res Gestae

No abstract provided.