Law Commons^™

Harry Potter And The (Re)Order Of The Artists: Are We Muggles Or Goblins?, Gary Pulsinelli

Scholarly Works

In "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," author J.K. Rowling attributes to goblins a very interesting view of ownership rights in artistic works. According to Rowling, goblins believe that the maker of an artistic object maintain an ongoing ownership interest in that object even after it is sold, and is entitled to get it back when the purchaser dies. While this view may strike some as rather odd when it is applied to tangible property in the 'muggle' world, it actually has some very interesting parallels to the legal treatment of intangible property, particularly in the areas of intellectual property …

Pornography, Coercion, And Copyright Law 2.0, Ann Bartow

Ann Bartow

The lack of regulation of the production of pornography in the United States leaves pornography performers exposed to substantial risks. Producers of pornography typically respond to attempts to regulate pornography as infringements upon free speech. At the same time, large corporations involved in the production and sale of pornography rely on copyright law's complex regulatory framework to protect their pornographic content from copying and unauthorized distribution. Web 2.0 also facilitates the production and distribution of pornography by individuals. These user-generators produce their own pornography, often looking to monetize their productions themselves via advertising revenues and subscription models. Much like their …

Intellectual Property And Human Rights: Learning To Live Together, Daniel J. Gervais

Daniel J Gervais

Intellectual property and human rights must learn to live together. Traditionally, there have been two dominant views of this “cohabitation,” namely a conflict view, which emphasizes the negative impacts of intellectual property on rights such as freedom of expression or the right to health and security, and a compatibility model, which emphasizes that both sets of rights strive towards the same fundamental equilibrium. This Chapter takes the dualist view that both are right, though there is, and should be, much more truth to the second approach in the coming years.

Enough Is Enough: Time To Eliminate Design Patents And Rely On More Appropriate Copyright And Trademark Protection For Product Designs, Daniel Harris Brean

Daniel Harris Brean

Drawing Idea From Expression: Creating A Legal Space For Culturally Appropriated Literary Characters, Jacqueline Lai Chung

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Towards A New Paradigm In Justifying Copyright: An Universalistic-Transcendental Approach., Christian G. Stallberg

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Copyright As Quasi-Public Property: Reinterpreting The Conflict Between Copyright And The First Amendment., Adrian Liu

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Constitutional Idea-Expression Doctrine: Qualifying Congress’ Commerce Power When Protecting Intellectual Property Rights., Yavar Bathaee

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Questionable Use Of Custom In Intellectual Property, Jennifer E. Rothman

All Faculty Scholarship

The treatment of customary practices has been widely debated in many areas of the law, but there has been virtually no discussion of how custom is and should be treated in the context of intellectual property (IP). Nevertheless, customs have a profound impact on both de facto and de jure IP law. The unarticulated incorporation of custom threatens to swallow up IP law, and replace it with industry-led IP regimes that give the public and other creators more limited rights to access and use intellectual property than were envisioned by the Constitution and Congress. This article presents a powerful critique …

Performance Anxiety: The Internet And Copyright's Vanishing Performance/Distribution Distinction, Jonah M. Knobler

Jonah M. Knobler

This article attempts to answer two related questions on the subject of copyright law in the Internet age: First: Under present U.S. copyright law, does the delivery of a digital music file over the Internet as a “download” necessarily implicate the copyright holder’s right of public performance, above and beyond the obviously implicated rights of distribution and reproduction, as the music industry claims it does? This article examines the recent decision in United States v. ASCAP (S.D.N.Y. 2007), which held that it does not. The article also independently applies the major techniques of statutory interpretation to the relevant portions of …

The Freedom To Copy: Copyright, Creation And Context, Olufunmilayo B. Arewa

Olufunmilayo B. Arewa

Although much separates them musically, George Harrison and Michael Bolton share a common legal fate. Both have been held liable in copyright infringement cases in which a court articulated theories of liability based on subconscious infringement. This Article discusses how decisions in the Bolton, Harrison, and other copyright infringement cases reflect a common failing. Such decisions highlight the incomplete nature of the theories of creativity and creation processes in copyright doctrine. After discussing current approaches to questions of creation, this Article suggests ways in which copyright theory can better incorporate a contextualized understanding of creativity and creation processes. Creativity in …

Making Money Making Music, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.

Xm Lawsuit: Threats To The Incentive Model Of Copyright Genesis And The Obsolescence Of The Ahra In A Digital Age Of Hybrid Technology, Jay W. Ferguson

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This article examines Atlantic Records Corp. v. XM Satellite Radio Inc. The current litigation offers a prime example of various ways in which the United States Copyright Act is unable to pace current technological trends with respect to the hybridization of technology. This article explores the nature of the current litigation and the fact that the litigation is entirely device-driven; the applicability, interpretation and purpose of the Audio Home Recording Act; threats to the incentive model of copyright genesis; and a call for device-neutral legislation that focuses on particular acts of infringement rather than measuring a device's capabilities as a …

Private Use As Fair Use: Is It Fair?, Frances Grodzinsky, Maria C. Bottis

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

The age of digital technology has introduced new complications into the issues of fair and private use of copyrighted material. In fact, the question of private use of another's work has been transformed from a side issue in intellectual property jurisprudence into the very center of intellectual property discussions about rights and privileges in a networked world. This paper will explore the nuanced difference between fair and private use as articulated in the US and the European Copyright Laws. Part One will explain the legal use and meaning of fair use and its justifications. We maintain that it is almost …

Assessing The Moral Legitimacy Of Statutory Damages In Copyright , Ben R. Kociubinski

Ben R Kociubinski

No abstract provided.

Expanding Preferential Treatment Under The Record Rental Amendment Beyond The Music Industry, Ryan G. Vacca

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This Article explores the development of copyright law’s first sale doctrine and the Record Rental Amendment (RRA) in light of the Sixth Circuit’s interpretation of the RRA in Brilliance Audio, Inc. v. Haights Cross Communications, Inc. This Article does not take issue with the court’s conclusion, but instead uses the differing conclusions of the majority and dissent to illustrate that the RRA exception is in need of Congressional clarification. This Article also examines whether the Record Rental Amendment should be amended to include audiobooks and other non-musical works, concluding that they should. The author then proposes two alternative amendments to …

The Confidentiality Of Seismic Data, Michael P. Simms, Van Penick

Dalhousie Law Journal

The authors review the common law, common contractual language and statutory law relating to the confidentiality of seismic information. The extent of the rights of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Boards to receive, use and make seismic data public is considered in light of freedom of information and protection of privacy legislation. The authors discuss the different treatment of specified user and speculative seismic data, and explore copyright.

Submission: Draft Guidelines On The Infringement Notices And Forfeiture Of Infringing Copies And Devices Scheme, Copyright Amendment Regulations 2006, Kimberlee G. Weatherall

Kimberlee G Weatherall

Towards A Functional Definition Of Publication In Copyright Law, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

The questions of whether, when, and where an author has “published” her work of authorship traditionally has given rise to, and continues to give rise to, numerous consequences, including the protectability of the work under U.S. copyright law; the running of various time periods, including a grace period for registering the copyright and the termination of copyright in works made for hire; the applicability of fair use and other exceptions to copyright liability; and the imposition of the duty to deposit two copies of the work with the Library of Congress. Although the 1976 Copyright Act, unlike its predecessors, includes …

Property, Persona, And Publicity, Deven R. Desai

Deven R. Desai

This article focuses on a paradox latent within the nature of creative phenomenon: although one can find strong arguments for control over intangible creations during one’s life, these arguments falter if not fail after the creator dies. Two interconnected problems posed by the growth of online creation illustrate the problem. First, unlike analog creations, important digital creations such as emails are mediated and controlled by second parties. Thus although these creations are core intellectual property, they are not treated as such and service providers terminate or deny access to people’s property all the time. In addition, when one dies, some …

Copyright And Creativity, Dennis S. Karjala

Dennis S Karjala

This article challenges the commonly articulated position that copyright is designed for the protection of “creativity” and argues that the Supreme Court in the well known case of Feist v. Rural Telephone Service was wrong in appending, as a constitutional matter, a creativity requirement for copyright protection. The central thrust is that “creativity” is useless in making the basis intellectual property determination of whether a given work should be (a) protected under copyright, (b) protected under patent, or (c) not protected at all under intellectual property law, because all three categories routinely include creative works, even highly creative works, within …

Copyright And Creativity, Dennis S. Karjala

Dennis S Karjala

This article challenges the commonly articulated position that copyright is designed for the protection of “creativity” and argues that the Supreme Court in the well known case of Feist v. Rural Telephone Service was wrong in appending, as a constitutional matter, a creativity requirement for copyright protection. The central thrust is that “creativity” is useless in making the basis intellectual property determination of whether a given work should be (a) protected under copyright, (b) protected under patent, or (c) not protected at all under intellectual property law, because all three categories routinely include creative works, even highly creative works, within …

Fair Use, "Fared Use," And Public Rights: Amending Section 107 - Draft - 08-19-2007, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Under provocative titles like "Fared Use', and '"the end of friction," commentators argue about the viability of copyright's fair use doctrine in a word of instantaneous transactions. As collecting societies such as the Copyright Clearance Center extend their licensing prowess, and Internet-based electronic commerce has made it possible to purchase digital copies with the click of a mouse, the suggestion is sometimes made that fair use could or should disappear. Decisions in the Second and Sixth Circuits have hinted that fair use may be foreclosed if a licensing market exists or is possible. The presence of "traditional, reasonable, or likely …

Second Draft Of The Public's Right To Fair Use - 2007, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Under provocative titles like "fared use" and "the end of friction," commentators argue about whether or not the doctrine of "fair use" should exist in a world of instantaneous transactions. As collecting societies like the Copyright Clearance Center become more powerful, and technologies like the internet have made it possible to purchase digital copies by clicking a mouse, the suggestion is sometimes made that fair use could or should disappear. Courts like the Second and Sixth Circuits have flirted with foreclosing fair use if a licensing market is present or possible. The presence of 'traditional, reasonable, or likely to be …

Draft Of The Public's Right To Fair Use - 2007, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Under provocative titles like "fared use" and "the end of friction," commentators argue about whether or not the doctrine of "fair use" should exist in a world of instantaneous transactions. As collecting societies like the Copyright Clearance Center become more powerful, and technologies like the internet have made it possible to purchase digital copies by clicking a mouse, the suggestion is sometimes made that fair use could or should disappear. Courts like the Second and Sixth Circuits have flirted with foreclosing fair use if a licensing market is present or possible. The presence of 'traditional, reasonable, or likely to be …

The Cultural Property Claim Within The Same Sex Marriage Controversy, Marc R. Poirier

Marc R. Poirier

The Cultural Property Claim within the Same Sex Marriage Controversy.

Marc R. Poirier, Seton Hall University School of Law

This article argues that traditionalist opposition to same sex marriage can be understood as a cultural property claim -- the sort of claim that is often made by Native American tribes and other subordinated cultural groups of a right to control the uses of sacred or culturally central rituals, places and objects. Ultimately, it disagrees with the traditionalist position, and argues that traditionalists should not be allowed to maintain a property-like right to exclude same sex couples from marriage. Nevertheless, the …

"Copynorms, Black Cultural Production And The Debate Over African-American Reparations, Kevin Greene

Kevin Greene

The cultural production of black artists has been central to American society, yet virtually ignored in intellectual property scholarship. This article exlpores how the historical appropriation of works of black authorship ties into the raging debate over black reparations, and contends that providing atonement and apology for cultural appropriation can provide not only redress for the great injustice of cultural appropriation, but can also help inculcate "copynorms" favoring the protection of intellectual property at time when copyright law faces enormous challegnes to its legitimacy.

Who Is Your Starting Pitcher? - Roger Clemens Or #22 On The Yankees?: Why Major League Basaeball Players Should Have Rights In Their Names. , Jason B. Baum

Jason B. Baum

The author examines how complex intellectual property issues affect fantasy baseball. Using CBC Distribution v. Major League Baseball, the author explores why the right of publicity should protect Major League Baseball players from the unauthorized use of Major League Baseball players' statistics in conjunction with their names.

The Twilight Of The Opera Pirates: A Prehistory Of The Exclusive Right Of Public Performance For Musical Compositions, Zvi S. Rosen

Zvi S Rosen

The exclusive right of public performance of a musical composition now brings to composers and songwriters revenue of approximately one billion dollars a year in the US alone. However, this right was not firmly established until a century after America’s first copyright statute, relying until then on the common-law principles that protected unpublished works. The first effort to create this right by statute was the Ingersoll Copyright Bill, an omnibus revision in 1844 which died quickly in committee. After that 50 years passed, and in the final quarter of the nineteenth century the need for statutory protection for public performance …

Fair Use And Copyright Overenforcement, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

Economic analysis has long suggested that there are two distinct categories of cases in which the fair use defense, which permits the unauthorized reproduction and other use of copyrighted materials, should apply: first, when the transaction cost of negotiating with the copyright owner for permission to use exceeds the private value of the use to the would-be user; and second, when the individual use is thought to generate some positive externality, such that the net social value of the use exceeds the value to the copyright owner of preventing the use, which in turn may exceed the value of the …