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Full-Text Articles in Law

Know When To Hold Them, When To Fold Them, And When To Walk Away: Tiktoks Are Professional Sports Franchises' Ace In Collective Bargaining Negotiations, Angelica Varona Apr 2023

Know When To Hold Them, When To Fold Them, And When To Walk Away: Tiktoks Are Professional Sports Franchises' Ace In Collective Bargaining Negotiations, Angelica Varona

Pepperdine Law Review

TikTok, the social media app, has become both a central force in entertainment, creating a slew of influencers and young celebrities, as well as an important tool in all things branding and marketing. Athletes have recognized the value of social media and fan engagement and have taken to becoming content-creators on the platform. The growing presence of professional athletes on the app brings up important issues of copyrightability and ownership of the content they are producing. This Comment considers the nature of athlete content-creation on TikTok as well as the employment scheme and contractual responsibilities that form a part of …


Are Cryptopunks Copyrightable?, Brian L. Frye Aug 2022

Are Cryptopunks Copyrightable?, Brian L. Frye

Pepperdine Law Review

Larva Labs’ CryptoPunks NFTs are iconic. Created in 2017, they were among the first NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. Four years later, they are among the most valuable, selling for anywhere from $200,000 to millions of dollars. The CryptoPunks collection consists of 10,000 NFTs, each of which is associated with a unique CryptoPunks image. Everyone knows who owns each CryptoPunks NFT. The Ethereum blockchain provides indelible proof. But people disagree about who owns - and who should own - the copyright in the CryptoPunks images. Most CryptoPunks NFT owners believe they should own the copyright in the image associated with …


The Chinese Copyright Dream, Sean A. Pager, Eric Priest Apr 2022

The Chinese Copyright Dream, Sean A. Pager, Eric Priest

Pepperdine Law Review

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision of the “Chinese Dream” has captured the popular imagination. As a slogan, the Chinese Dream is intentionally broad. Intended to inspire rather than prescribe, it captures diverse aspirations including dreams of material prosperity, environmental sustainability, national rejuvenation, and global leadership. The Dream’s ramifications continue to ricochet through state policy echelons and lend themselves to competing interpretations. In that spirit, we advance a modest suggestion: that the Chinese Dream should be, at least in part, a dream about copyright law. A more effective copyright system would bolster China’s creative industries, generating a diverse supply of high-quality …


De-Gentrified Black Genius: Blockchain, Copyright, And The Disintermediation Of Creativity, Tonya M. Evans Apr 2022

De-Gentrified Black Genius: Blockchain, Copyright, And The Disintermediation Of Creativity, Tonya M. Evans

Pepperdine Law Review

In a 2016 acceptance speech during the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards, actor and activist Jesse Williams used the phrase “gentrifying our genius” to refer to the insidious process of misappropriating the cultural and artistic productions of Black creators, inventors, and innovators. In that speech, he poignantly and unapologetically condemned racial discrimination and cultural misappropriation. This Article chronicles the nefarious history of the creative disempowerment of creators of color and then imagines an empowering future for those who successfully exploit their creations by fully leveraging copyright ownership and transfer termination. To that end, I reference the considerable scholarship of Professor …


The Long And Winding Road To Effective Copyright Protection In China, Peter K. Yu Apr 2022

The Long And Winding Road To Effective Copyright Protection In China, Peter K. Yu

Pepperdine Law Review

In November 2020, China adopted the Third Amendment to the Copyright Law, providing a major overhaul of its copyright regime. This Amendment entered into effect on June 1, 2021. The last time the regime was completely revamped was in October 2001, when the Copyright Law was amended two months before China joined the World Trade Organization. While U.S. policymakers and industry groups have had mixed reactions to the recent Amendment, the new law presents an opportunity to take stock of the progress China has made in the copyright reform process. This Article begins by mapping the long and winding road …


Thieves In The Temple: The Scandal Of Copyright Registration And African- American Artists, Kevin J. Greene Apr 2022

Thieves In The Temple: The Scandal Of Copyright Registration And African- American Artists, Kevin J. Greene

Pepperdine Law Review

Copyright registration is the currency of copyright transactions in music, film, and television and is essential for pursuing infringement claims and ownership disputes. Despite copyright registration’s outsized reach across the copyright spectrum and importance to the copyright industries, the U.S. Copyright Office does not verify claims of copyright authorship or ownership. No express mechanism exists to challenge false copyright registrations in the Copyright Office, and the penalties for falsely claiming copyright authorship are paltry in comparison to the potential gains. This Article contends that lax copyright registration standards call into question the legitimacy of the registration system and that the …


Creative Destruction: Copyright's Fair Use Doctrine And The Moral Right Of Integrity, Cathay Y. N. Smith Jun 2020

Creative Destruction: Copyright's Fair Use Doctrine And The Moral Right Of Integrity, Cathay Y. N. Smith

Pepperdine Law Review

This Paper explores the role of copyright’s fair use doctrine as a limit on the moral right of integrity. The moral right of integrity gives an author the right to prevent any distortion, modification, or mutilation of their work that prejudices their honor or reputation. Actions that have been found to violate an author’s moral right of integrity include, for instance, altering a mural by painting clothing over nude figures, selling separated panels of a single work of art, and displaying sculptures with holiday ribbons. At the same time, copyright’s fair use doctrine allows follow-on creators to transform original works …


Star Athletica Tells The Fashion Industry To Knock-It-Off With The Knockoffs, Samantha Burdick Apr 2019

Star Athletica Tells The Fashion Industry To Knock-It-Off With The Knockoffs, Samantha Burdick

Pepperdine Law Review

At any given fast fashion store, there may be a near exact replica of a ‘designer’ clothing item that sells for four times less than the amount it would at a luxury retailer. Wait—isn’t that illegal? After the Supreme Court’s landmark separability test created in Star Athletica, the answer may soon be yes. Fast fashion chains make their money exploiting the historical lack of copyright protection in the fashion industry. Lamps, shoes, and clothes have long been held ineligible for copyright protection because the utilitarian features are inseparable from the artistic. In other words, the part of clothing that is …


The Right-Based View Of The Cathedral: Liability Rules And Corrective Justice, Omri Rachum-Twaig, Ohad Somech Jul 2017

The Right-Based View Of The Cathedral: Liability Rules And Corrective Justice, Omri Rachum-Twaig, Ohad Somech

Pepperdine Law Review

In their celebrated paper, Calabresi and Melamed offered a framework, often referred to as the ‘‘Cathedral’’ analysis, which explains when and why entitlements should be protected using two main sets of rules—property rules and liability rules. This framework is now widely used to explain some private law doctrines. However, cases that are easily explained as applications of liability rules are usually difficult to explain under the private law theory of correlative corrective justice. This is because the basic idea underlying corrective justice conflicts with the notion of rules that allow the nonconsensual property appropriation subject to compensation. In this Article, …


The General Revision Of The Copyright Law - From Bare Bones To Corpulence - A Partial Overview, Andrew E. Katz May 2013

The General Revision Of The Copyright Law - From Bare Bones To Corpulence - A Partial Overview, Andrew E. Katz

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


The 1976 Copyright Revision Act And Authors' Rights: A Negative Overview, Arthur Stanley Katz May 2013

The 1976 Copyright Revision Act And Authors' Rights: A Negative Overview, Arthur Stanley Katz

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Copyright And The Musical Arrangement: An Analysis Of The Law And Problems Pertaining To This Specialized Form Of Derivative Work, Joel L. Friedman Feb 2013

Copyright And The Musical Arrangement: An Analysis Of The Law And Problems Pertaining To This Specialized Form Of Derivative Work, Joel L. Friedman

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In Computers And Computer Programs: Recent Developments , Alan C. Rose Feb 2013

Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights In Computers And Computer Programs: Recent Developments , Alan C. Rose

Pepperdine Law Review

The following article examines the protection offered to computers and computer programs, under the various applicable patent, copyright and trade secret laws. Concerning patent protection; the author discusses the history and current status of the patent laws, and analyzes in detail the landmark case of Diamond v. Diehr. Discussed also is an analysis of copyright protection for computer programs, offered by the 1980 amendments to section 117 of the 1976 Copyright Act; which paved the way for the increased protection.


Copyright And The First Amendment: Freedom Or Monopoly Of Expression?, Henry S. Hoberman Jan 2013

Copyright And The First Amendment: Freedom Or Monopoly Of Expression?, Henry S. Hoberman

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


States Escape Liability For Copyright Infringement?, Michelle V. Francis Jan 2013

States Escape Liability For Copyright Infringement?, Michelle V. Francis

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Musical Copyright Infringement: The Replacement Of Arnstein V. Porter - A More Comprehensive Use Of Expert Testimony And The Implementation Of An "Actual Audience" Test , Michelle V. Francis Nov 2012

Musical Copyright Infringement: The Replacement Of Arnstein V. Porter - A More Comprehensive Use Of Expert Testimony And The Implementation Of An "Actual Audience" Test , Michelle V. Francis

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Community For Creative Non-Violence V. Reid: New Certainty For The Copyright Work For Hire Doctrine , Katherine B. Marik Nov 2012

Community For Creative Non-Violence V. Reid: New Certainty For The Copyright Work For Hire Doctrine , Katherine B. Marik

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Fun & Profit: When Commercial Parodies Constitute Copyright Or Trademark Infringement, Tammi A. Gauthier Nov 2012

Fun & Profit: When Commercial Parodies Constitute Copyright Or Trademark Infringement, Tammi A. Gauthier

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


An Economic View Of Innovation And Property Right Protection In The Expanded Regulatory State, J. Miles Hanisee Nov 2012

An Economic View Of Innovation And Property Right Protection In The Expanded Regulatory State, J. Miles Hanisee

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


As Unoriginal As They Wanna Be: Upholding Musical Parody In Campell V. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., Gregory D. Deutsch Oct 2012

As Unoriginal As They Wanna Be: Upholding Musical Parody In Campell V. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., Gregory D. Deutsch

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Beware Of The Highwayman On The Information Superhighway: A Balanced Proposal To Protect Copyrights Within The National Information Infrastructure, Chandra Gehri Spencer Oct 2012

Beware Of The Highwayman On The Information Superhighway: A Balanced Proposal To Protect Copyrights Within The National Information Infrastructure, Chandra Gehri Spencer

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Wet Footprints? Digital Watermarks: A Trail To The Copyright Infringer On The Internet, Rosemarie F. Jones Oct 2012

Wet Footprints? Digital Watermarks: A Trail To The Copyright Infringer On The Internet, Rosemarie F. Jones

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Gray Days Ahead?: The Impact Of Quality King Distributors, Inc. V. L'Anza Research International, Inc. , William Richelieu Oct 2012

Gray Days Ahead?: The Impact Of Quality King Distributors, Inc. V. L'Anza Research International, Inc. , William Richelieu

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Termination Of Transfers Provision Of The 1976 Copyright Act: Is It Time To Alienate It Or Amend It?, Kathleen M. Bragg Oct 2012

The Termination Of Transfers Provision Of The 1976 Copyright Act: Is It Time To Alienate It Or Amend It?, Kathleen M. Bragg

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Internet-Based Fans: Why The Entertainment Industries Cannot Depend On Traditional Copyright Protections , Thomas C. Inkel Oct 2012

Internet-Based Fans: Why The Entertainment Industries Cannot Depend On Traditional Copyright Protections , Thomas C. Inkel

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Protecting Private Intellectual Property From Government Intrusion: Revisiting Smithkline And The Case For Just Compensation, John C. O'Quinn May 2012

Protecting Private Intellectual Property From Government Intrusion: Revisiting Smithkline And The Case For Just Compensation, John C. O'Quinn

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Riaa V. The People: The Recording Industry's Misguided Attempt To Use The Legal System To Save Their Business Model, John A. Fedock Mar 2012

The Riaa V. The People: The Recording Industry's Misguided Attempt To Use The Legal System To Save Their Business Model, John A. Fedock

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Building Universal Digital Libraries: An Agenda For Copyright Reform, Hannibal Travis Mar 2012

Building Universal Digital Libraries: An Agenda For Copyright Reform, Hannibal Travis

Pepperdine Law Review

This article proposes a series of copyright reforms to pave the way for digital library projects like Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive, and Google Print, which promise to make much of the world's knowledge easily searchable and accessible from anywhere. Existing law frustrates digital library growth and development by granting overlapping, overbroad, and near-perpetual copyrights in books, art, audiovisual works, and digital content. Digital libraries would benefit from an expanded public domain, revitalized fair use doctrine and originality requirement, rationalized systems for copyright registration and transfer, and a new framework for compensating copyright owners for online infringement without imposing derivative …


The Devil Wears Prado: A Look At The Design Piracy Prohibition Act And The Extension Of Copyright Protection To The World Of Fashion, Lynsey Blackmon Mar 2012

The Devil Wears Prado: A Look At The Design Piracy Prohibition Act And The Extension Of Copyright Protection To The World Of Fashion, Lynsey Blackmon

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Can Copyright Law Perform The Perfect Fouetté?: Keeping Law And Choreography On Balance To Achieve The Purposes Of The Copyright Clause, Katie M. Benton Feb 2012

Can Copyright Law Perform The Perfect Fouetté?: Keeping Law And Choreography On Balance To Achieve The Purposes Of The Copyright Clause, Katie M. Benton

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.