Law Commons^™

Price Discrimination, Personal Use And Piracy: Copyright Protection Of Digital Works, Michael J. Meurer

Faculty Scholarship

The growth of digital information transmission worries copyright holders who fear the new technology threatens their profits because of greater piracy and widespread sharing of digital works. They have responded with proposals for expanded protection of digital works. Specifically, they seek restrictions on personal use rights regarding digital works provided by the fair use and first sale doctrines. The proposed changes in the allocation of property rights to digital information significantly affect the ability of copyright holders to practice price discrimination. Broader user rights make discrimination more difficult; broader producer rights make discrimination easier. I argue that more price discrimination …

Copyright In Central And Eastern Europe: An Intellectual Property Metamorphosis , Silke Von Lewinski

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Wto, Wipo & The Internet: Confounding The Borders Of Copyright And Neighboring Rights, Susan A. Mort

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Regents Guide To Understanding Copyright And Educational Fair Use, L. Ray Patterson

Scholarly Works

The Regents Guide to Copyright and Educational Fair Use, adopted by the Regents of the University System of Georgia, is the most comprehensive statement on copyright and educational fair use ever adopted by a major university system. The purpose of this comment is to provide a brief background for readers and users of the document.

The Regents Copyright Committee, appointed by Dr. James Muyskens, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University System of Georgia, continues in existence and has eight members, who represent a cross-section of the university community, and include administrators (two of whom are lawyers), faculty (two of …

Linking Copyright To Homepages, Matt Jackson

Federal Communications Law Journal

The explosive growth of the Internet as a widespread medium of communication raises many novel copyright issues. One issue that has escaped much examination is the copyright implications of "links"--references to other Internet Web sites that allow immediate access to those sites. This Comment analyzes such questions as whether linking gives rise to direct or contributory liability to the copyright owner of a linked site, and whether the links themselves are copyrightable. It concludes that, although contributory liability is possible, linking cannot constitute a direct infringement any more than dialing a phone number to reach an answering machine with a …

Protecting Folklore Of Indigenous Peoples: Is Intellectual Property The Answer?, Christine Farley

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

What can the Navajos do to prevent non-Navajos from using Navajo rug patterns to produce rugs overseas using cheap material and labor, thereby undercutting the Navajos themselves in a market for their famous rugs? What can the Australian Aboriginal peoples do when their sacred and secret imagery is reporduced on carpets they did not make, and sold to non-Aboriginals, who will inevitably walk on them? Do these communities have any legal rights to these pieces of their culture? Does the law provide any means for them to take back their culture or to prevent further poaching?https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=923410

Of Moral Right And Righteousness, Sharon W. Halpern

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

In response to Professor Kwall's article, Professor Halpern provides an exploration of the differences between European countries that provide broad moral right protection and the United States. Professor Halpern recommends an examination of the role artists and creators of intellectual property play in the culture of the United States in order to form a consensus on which a United States moral right regime may be built.

Procd, Inc. V. Zeindenberg: An Emerging Trend In Shrinkwrap Licensing?, Jerry David Monroe

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

The author discusses the implications of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit's decision in ProCD, Inc. v. Zeindenberg. As Monroe explains, until this decision, the courts have been reluctant to uphold the legal consequences of shrinkwrap licenses. Monroe provides an analysis of the interplay between contract law and copyright law to provide a thorough understanding of this emerging trend in intellectual property.

The Internet: Is It Broadcasting?, Jonathan I. Ezor, Peter Brown, Peggy Miles

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Intellectual Property Rights In Data?, J. H. Reichman, Pamela Samuelson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The international intellectual property system founded on the Paris and Berne Conventions in the late nineteenth century has been dominated by the patent and copyright paradigms, which articulate the legal protection of technological inventions and of literary and artistic works, respectively. Although this patent-copyright dichotomy was never as strictly observed abroad as in the United States, it nonetheless charted a relatively clear theoretical line of demarcation between legal incentives to create and the public interest in free competition. Any publicly disclosed technologies or information products that failed to meet the eligibility requirements of the domestic patent and copyright laws became …

Legislative Inaction On The Information Superhighway: Bargaining In The Shadow Of Copyright Law, Maureen A. O'Rourke

Faculty Scholarship

As a practical matter, the development of law in the form of enacted legislation often does not keep pace with societal change. At first glance, this fact seems somewhat disturbing since the law, according to some philosophies, should reflect social consensus. However, this is neither remarkable nor cause for concern. The law's processes are deliberative, involving time-consuming public testimony and debate. Thus, the law often plays "catch-up" with social change. This reactive rather than pro-active decision-making is generally desirable as the law is likely to change to reflect well-considered social judgments rather than passing social fancies. This column briefly examines …

On The Economics Of Copyright, Restitution And 'Fair Use': Systemic Versus Case-By-Case Responses To Market Failure, Wendy J. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

The 'public goods' characteristics possess by intangible works of authorship and invention present the basic market failure problem usually relied on to justify intellectual property rights. What is ordinarily less emphasized is that such market failure is no more than half of the prerequisite for an economically desirable copyright or patent system: another requisite condition is that there be less costly market imperfections after intellectual property is instituted than there would have been in the absence of the intellectual property regime. Intellectual property rights are best justified in the presence of "asymmetric market conditions", that is where (1) in the …

Licensing Issues On The Internet, Steven Masur, Neil J. Friedman, Judith M. Saffer

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cyberspace Must Exceed Its Grasp, Or What's A Metaphor? Tropes, Trips And Stumbles On The Info Highway, Robert C. Cumbow

Seattle University Law Review

This Essay will focus on three metaphors, and show briefly how the arguments that copyright law is “unworkable” in the Internet context are based on a misreading of these metaphors. The first metaphor is the use of the term “cyberspace” to apply to the Internet; the second is the tendency to describe Internet communication as “going” somewhere. Both of these metaphors mistakenly suggest a space in which enforcement—and, indeed, violation—of any law is impossible. The third metaphor is the “wine and bottles” analogy, set forth by John Perry Barlow in his widely circulated article, “The Economy of Ideas," to show …

Forms Of Redress For Design Piracy: How Victims Can Use Existing Copyright Law, Peter K. Schalestock

Seattle University Law Review

Part I of this Comment explores the nature and scope of design piracy in the fashion industry. It also discusses the impact of modem technology on pirates and their victims. Part II reviews the existing intellectual property legal framework, emphasizing copyright law and its application to clothing design. Part III discusses the exclusion of clothing design from copyright protection and reviews cases that have addressed that issue. Finally, Part IV suggests ways that designers might obtain greater protection. The alternatives explored are (1) the proper application of existing law to find separable protectable design elements, and (2) congressional action to …

Copyright Preemption After The Procd Case: A Market-Based Approach, Maureen A. O'Rourke

Faculty Scholarship

As information becomes increasingly available in digital form, a little noted yet significant legal change is occurring in the way in which information providers use the law to establish the terms under which they market their products. Electronic information providers, in contrast to their hard-copy counterparts, have continually turned to the private law of contract both to supplement and modify the public law of copyright.' While this trend began when most users were relatively large commercial, academic, or governmental enterprises, it accelerated as software providers began to market pre-packaged software to consumers, using the infamous "shrinkwrap" as a device to …

Rethinking Remedies At The Intersection Of Intellectual Property And Contract: Toward A Unified Body Of Law, Maureen A. O'Rourke

Faculty Scholarship

As society continues to move "on-line"' and technology advances in fields such as biotechnology, a paradigm shift is occurring. Investors are focusing less on asset valuations based on the physical goods owned by a particular firm and more on the value of intangibles-the information and know-how possessed by the firm and embodied in its intellectual property rights. Firms and even entire industries have grown up with the primarily paper assets of patents and copyrights.