Law Commons^™

The Role Of Levies In Canada's Digital Music Market , Jeremy F. De Beer

Jeremy de Beer

Parties not directly involved in the use of copyright-protected music have increasingly become the targets of established or proposed schemes to provide revenues for the music industry. It has been suggested that rather than obtaining payments directly from consumers or distributors of digital music in exchange for licenses to use or transmit that music, levies should be imposed on the goods and services of third parties, such as recording media, digital devices and/or Internet access. This paper considers whether levies are an appropriate way to deal with the challenges and opportunities that are arising in Canada's digital music market.

Traditional …

Once And Future Copyright, James Gibson

Law Faculty Publications

Copyright is like a well-meaning but ultimately bothersome friend, eager to help but nearly impossible to get rid of. It attaches indiscriminately to the simplest acts of expression, without regard for whether the author needs or wants its protection. This automatic propertization made sense in the print era, when mass distribution of information was an expensive process rarely undertaken by those with no plans to profit from their creativity. It makes little sense today. The following article shows that copyright's overly solicitous nature is the source of several seemingly unrelated and intractable problems - e.g., closed code, copyright as censorship, …

The Promise Of Internet Intermediary Liability, Ronald J. Mann, Seth R. Belzley

William & Mary Law Review

The Internet has transformed the economics of communication, creating a spirited debate about the proper role of federal, state, and international governments in regulating conduct related to the Internet. Many argue that Internet communications should be entirely self-regulated because such communications cannot or should not be the subject of government regulation. The advocates of that approach would prefer a no-regulation zone around Internet communications, based largely on the unexamined view that Internet activity is fundamentally different in a way that justifies broad regulatory exemption. At the same time, some kinds of activity that the Internet facilitates undisputedly violate widely shared …

Virtual Property, Joshua A.T. Fairfield

Scholarly Articles

This article explores three new concepts in property law. First, the article defines an emerging property form - virtual property - which is not intellectual property, but that more efficiently governs rivalrous, persistent, and interconnected online resources. Second, the article demonstrates that the threat to high-value uses of internet resources is not the traditional tragedy of the commons that results in overuse. Rather, the naturally layered nature of the internet leads to overlapping rights of exclusion that cause underuse of internet resources: a tragedy of the anticommons. And finally, the article shows that the common law of property can act …

Sexual Harassment: Limiting The Affirmative Defense In The Digital Workplace, Donald P. Harris, Daniel B. Garrie, Matthew J. Armstrong

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Digital communications sexual harassment is on the rise. Such harassment occurs through sexually offensive and unwarranted e-mails, placing harassing messages on electronic bulletin boards, and other forms of harassment that occur through the Internet. To date, courts have remained silent on the issue of sexual harassment by digital communications. Should this type of harassment be treated any differently than harassment that occurs in the physical space? The somewhat surprising answer is yes.

This Article advocates applying a new judicial framework for addressing digital communications sexual harassment. This new framework accounts for the real-world technology in the digital workplace and the …

Initial Interest Confusion: Standing At The Crossroads Of Trademark Law, Jennifer E. Rothman

All Faculty Scholarship

While the benchmark of trademark infringement traditionally has been a demonstration that consumers are likely to be confused by the use of a similar or identical trademark to identify the goods or services of another, a court-created doctrine called initial interest confusion allows liability for trademark infringement solely on the basis that a consumer might initially be interested, attracted, or distracted by a competitor's, or even a non-competitor's, product or service. Initial interest confusion is being used with increasing frequency, especially on the Internet, to shut down speech critical of trademark holders and their products and services, to prevent comparative …

A Shadow Government: Private Regulation, Free Speech, And Lessons From The Sinclair Blogstorm, Marvin Ammori

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

Because of the economics of online information, thousands who do not know each other can band together in hours, without previous organizational coordination or any persistent central coordination, to affect others and conform society to their idea of the social good. This changes the dynamic of political action and the ability of unaffiliated, lone individuals to respond to social acts where government and the market have not. Through ad hoc volunteerism, the Sinclair participants produced regulatory action against a private party with whom they were not transacting--because they believed government failed to do so. Although ad hoc volunteerism has received …

'Code' And The Slow Erosion Of Privacy, Bert-Jaap Koops, Ronald Leenes

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The notion of software code replacing legal code as a mechanism to control human behavior--"code as law"--is often illustrated with examples in intellectual property and freedom of speech. This Article examines the neglected issue of the impact of "code as law" on privacy. To what extent is privacy-related "code" being used, either to undermine or to enhance privacy? On the basis of cases in the domains of law enforcement, national security, E-government, and commerce, it is concluded that technology rarely incorporates specific privacy-related norms. At the same time, however, technology very often does have clear effects on privacy, as it …

Towards A Cosmopolitan Vision Of Conflict Of Laws: Redefining Governmental Interests In A Global Era, Paul Schiff Berman

ExpressO

It has now been ten years since the idea of global online communication first entered the popular consciousness. And while the internet has undoubtedly opened up new worlds of interaction and cooperation across borders, this increased transnational activity has also at times inspired parochialism, at least among the legislatures and courts of nation-states around the globe. Thus, we have seen a slew of national laws and court decisions purporting to regulate a wide variety of online activities, from gambling to chat rooms to auction sites, and seeking to enforce territorially based rules regarding trademarks, contractual relations, privacy norms, “indecent” content, …

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

ExpressO

The article discusses broadly the music piracy problem in Russia, the current state of Russia’s copyright laws, and how its laws and problems compare to the U.S. and the rest of the world. In particular, the article focuses on music piracy through the Internet and how it has exploded in Russia. One of the websites I target is the infamous Allofmp3.com, which has attracted a large amount of U.S. attention in recent times by consumers as well as lawmakers. The article analyzes the legislative and enforcement deficiencies in Russia that led to the enormous problem with traditional music piracy and …

China's Media: The Impact Of The Internet, Richard Cullen, D. W. Choy

San Diego International Law Journal

[T]his paper provides a review of how the use of the Internet has grown and been regulated in China. We then draw some conclusions on what the experience to date may have to tell us about future regulatory and usage patterns with respect to the Internet in China.

Digital Crossroads, Kathleen Wallman

Federal Communications Law Journal

Book Review: Digital Crossroads: American Telecommunications Policy in the Internet Age, Jonathan E. Nuechterlein & Philip J. Weiser, Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 2005, 670 pages.

A review of Digital Crossroads: American Telecommunications Policy in the Internet Age, by Jonathan E. Nuechterlein and Philip J. Weiser, MIT Press, 2005. Most practitioners of communications law are familiar with the necessity of teaching themselves enough economics, engineering, and politics to practice competently and comfortably in an area that is inherently interdisciplinary. Likewise, many professors who teach telecommunications from a variety of disciplinary perspectives are familiar with the frustration of locating a text that …

An Economic Theory Of Infrastructure And Commons Management, Brett M. Frischmann

ExpressO

In this article, Professor Frischmann combines a number of current debates across many disciplinary lines, all of which examine from different perspectives whether certain resources should be managed through a regime of private property or through a regime of open access. Frischmann develops and applies a theory that demonstrates there are strong economic arguments for managing and sustaining openly accessible infrastructure. The approach he takes differs from conventional analyses in that he focuses extensively on demand-side considerations and fully explores how infrastructure resources generate value for consumers and society. As a result, the theory brings into focus the social value …

To Surf And Protect: The Children's Internet Protection Act Policies Material Harmful To Minors And A Whole Lot More, Michael B. Cassidy

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

This Note will examine the constitutional issues raised by installing Internet filtering software in public libraries. Part I explores the First Amendment, the standard of review for restricting Internet material, and the government's role in protecting minors and regulating speech. Part II discusses library patrons' First Amendment rights in public libraries. Part III provides the statutory framework of the E-rate and LSTA programs, as well as the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Part IV examines the effectiveness of current Internet filtering technology and provides the American Library Association's policies on Internet filtering in public libraries. Part V discusses the district …

Market For Private Dispute Resolution Services - An Empirical Re-Assessment Of Icann-Udrp Performance, The, Jay P. Kesan, Andres A. Gallo

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

We present a thorough analysis of one of the ADR regimes that is considered a significant success in Internet markets, the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) implemented by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). In this work, we perform a complete empirical analysis of the UDRP and evaluate its performance. We then extrapolate the results to other sectors of the Internet market and to private dispute resolution in general.[...] In this paper, we thoroughly critique the performance of the UDRP providers and identify the main variables that determine ICANN's efficiency. For example, one of the key variables, …

Who Owns The Internet? Ownership As A Legal Basis For American Control Of The Internet, Markus Muller

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Problems Of Anti-Circumvention Rules In The Dmca & More Heterogeneous Solutions, Yijun Tian

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Who Owns The Internet? Ownership As A Legal Basis For American Control Of The Internet, Markus Muller

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Problems Of Anti-Circumvention Rules In The Dmca & More Heterogeneous Solutions, Yijun Tian

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Women In The Web Of Secondary Copyright Liability And Internet Filtering, Ann Bartow

Ann Bartow

This Essay suggests possible explanations for why there is not very much legal scholarship devoted to gender issues on the Internet; and it asserts that there is a powerful need for Internet legal theorists and activists to pay substantially more attention to the gender-based differences in communicative style and substance that have been imported from real space to cyberspace. Information portals, such as libraries and web logs, are "gendered" in ways that may not be facially apparent. Women are creating and experiencing social solidarity online in ways that male scholars and commentators do not seem to either recognize or deem …

La Voip Y La Nueva Ley, Juan Carlos Riofrío Martínez-Villalba

Juan Carlos Riofrío Martínez-Villalba

No abstract provided.

Introduction: The State Of Play, Beth Simone Noveck

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Thwarting Ethical Violations With Web Site Disclaimers, Walter Effross

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Zippo Is Dying, Should It Be Dead?: The Exercise Of Personal Jurisdiction By U.S. Federal Courts Over Non-Domiciliary Defendants In Trademark Infringement Lawsuits Arising Out Of Cyberspace, Bunmi Awoyemi

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Personal jurisdiction and the Internet has troubled the courts from the first. The analysis the court offered in Zippo Manufacturing Co. v. Zippo DOT Com, Inc. on its face appeared helpful for dealing with personal jurisdictional issues by the use of a "sliding scale": "[T]he likelihood that personal jurisdiction can be constitutionally exercised is directly proportionate to the nature and quality of commercial activity that an entity conducts over the Internet." putting aside the failure of many courts to restrict Zippo to its facts, The author argues that the Zippo court's analysis of specific personal jurisdiction in the Internet or …

Beyond Napster: Debating The Future Of Copyright On The Internet - Panel Three: New Business Models, Regulatory Options And The Future Of Copyright On The Internet, Ann Bartow

Ann Bartow

This article presents a panel discussion concerning the future of copyright on the internet. The panel convened in Washington, D. C. on Thursday, November 16, 2000, and was moderated by Joshua J. Kaufman of Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti. The panelists included Ann Bartow (University of South Carolina School of Law), Edward J. Black (Computer & Communications Industry Association), Philip S. Corwin (Butera & Andrews), Brian Hecht (enews.com), Keith Kupferschmid (Software Information Industry Association), Bennett Lincoff (Darby & Darby), and David Pakman (myplay.com). The panel discussed the internet business models of the future and how the piracy problems created by …

The Constitutional Failing Of The Anticybersquatting Act, Ned Snow

Faculty Publications

Eminent domain and thought control are occurring in cyberspace. Through the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), the government transfers domain names from domain-name owners to private parties based on the owners' bad-faith intent. The owners receive no just compensation. The private parties who are recipients of the domain names are trademark holders whose trademarks correspond with the domain names. Often the trademark holders have no property rights in those domain names: trademark law only allows mark holders to exclude others from making commercial use of their marks; it does not allow mark holders to reserve the marks for their own …

Towards A New Core International Copyright Norm: The Reverse Three-Step Test, Daniel J. Gervais

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This paper argues that it is time to replace the existing set of copyright rights by focusing on its true policy objectives. The paper identifies what is wrong with extant norms and spotlights the apparent chasm between the policy objectives and the norms. The paper proposes a new international copyright norm based on the Berne Convention's three-step test, in harmony with the U.S. fair use doctrine. The author suggests that fair use reflects an appropriate set of criteria to balance the rights of copyright holders and the needs and interests of users, which could serve as a basis to build …

The New Alphabet, Douglas Rushkoff

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Online Games May Change The Law And Legally Significant Institutions, David R. Johnson

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Availability Or Practical Obscurity: The Debate Over Public Access To Court Records On The Internet, Arminda Bradford Bepko

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.