Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

Youtube Or Youlose? Can Youtube Survive A Copyright Infringement Lawsuit, Jason C. Breen

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YouTube, and similar video web hosting services, have already been targets of copyright infringement lawsuits. YouTube’s liability is most likely dependant on whether the service meets the requirements of the DMCA safe harbor for service providers under 17 U.S.C.A. § 512(c). This paper briefly examines how YouTube would fare under the different theories of copyright infringement and discusses whether the DMCA safe harbor would be available to YouTube if they were found liable as an infringer. The limited case law available indicates that the DMCA safe harbor will likely facilitate YouTube’s continued existence, unlike services like Grokster, although YouTube would …

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

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The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Through The Looking Glass: Runaway Productions And "Hollywood Economics", Adrian H. Mcdonald

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This paper uses the issue of runaway production as a looking glass into the complex world of Hollywood economics and politics. As such, a broad overview of Hollywood's business practices, history, and technology are discussed so the reader can understand how runaway production (a major issue itself) is one piece of the Hollywood puzzle. Specifically, this paper attempts to study runaway productions from the Law and Economics approach described in Judge Richard Posner's text on the subject. Events in 2006 illustrate the continuing importance of runaway productions and CEIDR's August 2006 report is discussed in this paper.

Recently expanded, this …

On The Legal Consequence Of Sauces: Should Thomas Keller's Recipes Be Per Se Copyrightable, Christopher J. Buccafusco

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This article is devoted to copyright protection for one of the restaurant industry’s most valuable assets – original recipes. The two most recent appellate courts to consider the issue have been hostile to the notion that recipes are copyrightable, but given the enormous amount of money at stake, litigation in this area is likely about to expand. The article begins by critiquing the courts’ conclusions. Following an analogy to musical composition, I argue that recipes are simply the means of fixation for culinary works of authorship, i.e, dishes. Next, based on interviews with some of America’s leading chefs, including Thomas …

How The Other Half Lives (Revisited): Twenty Years Since Midler V. Ford - A Global Perspective On The Right Of Publicity, Alain Lapter

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For celebrities, name and image are, arguably, two of their most valuable assets. From headlining a movie, to starring in a commercial, to endorsing a product, a celebrity’s persona is potentially worth thousands to millions of dollars. However, this intangible commodity’s worth is often siphoned off by those who appropriate a celebrity’s name or image without authorization or remuneration, thus potentially decreasing the property’s value. In order to stifle this unjust enrichment, celebrities greatly desire the absolute right to control the commercial exploitation of their name and likeness.

In this article, I examine the current state of the right of …

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

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This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

As Our Heritage Crumbles Into Dust: The Threat Of State Law Protection For Pre-1972 Sound Recordings, Henry L. Mann

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This article examines the perplexing question of why U.S. copyright law allows states to grant virtually unlimited protection to sound recordings created prior to 1972. Although the Constitution grants the federal government commanding authority over the United States’ copyright regime, it appears that states are still free to do as they please in at least one important field. In the 2005 decision of Capitol Records, Inc. v. Naxos of America, Inc., the New York Court of Appeals breathed new life into the doctrine of common law copyright by holding that the rights-holder to a sound recording created any time before …

Fair Use And The First Amendment: Corporate Control Of Copyright Is Stifling Documentary Making And Thwarting The Aims Of The First Amendment, Paige Gold

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Documentary motion pictures constitute a crucial part of contemporary public debate, because in today’s highly consolidated mass media environment, documentaries offer the kinds of independent voices that the First Amendment was designed to protect. However, current intellectual property practices are chilling speech by forcing documentary filmmakers to tailor their films to accommodate new, strict licensing practices. When filmmakers are compelled to edit their work to meet insurance requirements, it harms the interests of not just the filmmaker, but also the public. Thus, the “clearance culture,” in which anything and everything that could possibly lead to a lawsuit must be cleared, …

Harry Potter And The Three-Second Crime: Are We Vanishing The De Minimis Defense From Copyright Law?, Julie Cromer

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No abstract provided.

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

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No abstract provided.

Copyright Law, The Production Of Creative Works And Cultural Growth In Cyberspace , Alina Ng

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The Internet has affected information flow in copyrighted content in a profound manner. Authors and artists are enabled through the Internet to assert greater control over the flow of information in their works as these new technologies offer new and different distribution channels for content. These new technologies also allow consumers to use content in ways, which had not been anticipated by the copyright industries. This paper presents that copyright law was developed for a specific purpose, which was to encourage learning and growth. As new technologies emerge and as content industries experience changes in information flow in copyrighted works, …

Copyright Law, The Production Of Creative Works And Cultural Growth In Cyberspace , Alina Ng

ExpressO

The Internet has affected information flow in copyrighted content in a profound manner. Authors and artists are enabled through the Internet to assert greater control over the flow of information in their works as these new technologies offer new and different distribution channels for content. These new technologies also allow consumers to use content in ways, which had not been anticipated by the copyright industries. This paper presents that copyright law was developed for a specific purpose, which was to encourage learning and growth. As new technologies emerge and as content industries experience changes in information flow in copyrighted works, …

The Utility Of A Bright-Line Rule In Copyright Law: Freeing Judges From Aesthetic Controversy And Conceptual Separability In Leicester V. Warner Bros., John B. Fowles

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No abstract provided.

Keeping Score: The Struggle For Music Copyright, Michael W. Carroll

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Inspired by the passionate contemporary debates about music copyright, this Article investigates how, when, and why music first came within copyright's domain. Although music publishers and recording companies are among the most aggressive advocates for strong copyright protection today, when copyright law was first invented in eighteenth-century England, music publishers resisted its extension to music. This Article sheds light on a series of early legal disputes concerning printed music that yield important insights into original understandings of copyright law and music's role in society. By focusing attention on this understudied episode, this Article demonstrates that the concept of copyright was …

Virtual Markets For Virtual Goods: The Mirror Image Of Digital Copyright?, Peter D. Eckersley

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The Internet and Copyright Law are particularly ill-suited to each other. One is designed to give as much information as possible to everyone who wants it; the other allows authors, artists and publishers to earn money by restricting the distribution of works made out of information. The beneficiaries of copyright law are lobbying for the re-design of computers and the Internet to instate "content control" and "digital rights management" (DRM). These technologies are intended to make copyright workable again by re-imposing limits on access to information goods, but they carry high direct and indirect social costs.

One alternative, which has …

Owning Music: From Publisher's Privilege To Composer's Copyright, Michael W. Carroll

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More than four years after Napster demonstrated the power of the Internet as a means of distributing music, we still are in the midst of a cultural and legal debate about what the respective rights of music copyright owners, follow-on creators, disseminators, and purchasers should be. A common assumption underlying much of the debate is that whatever settlement emerges, it will apply equally to all forms of expression. This Article questions that assumption by investigating the early history of copyright in music.

For the first time in legal scholarship, the Article reveals and examines the distinct early history of copyright …

Media Policy Out Of The Box: Content Abundance, Attention Scarcity, And The Failures Of Digital Markets, Ellen P. Goodman

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No abstract provided.

Fine Art Online: Digital Imagery And Current International Interpretations Of Ethical Considerations In Copyright Law, Molly A. Torsen

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This writing explores the fast-changing intersection of law, technology and ethical considerations related to the visual arts. My paper explores differences in domestic intellectual property laws as well as regional considerations in moral rights law application.

Booze, Drugs, And Rock & Roll: Crime During The College Years, Paul S. Gutman

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In this Article, the author examines the predilection of college and university students towards certain types of illegal behaviors. Specifically, the Article considers the widespread instances of drug use, under-age alcohol use, and "file-sharing" using Napster and its progeny. The Article's main focus is on why such illegal behaviors are rampant among college students who might otherwise be