Regulatory And Adjudicatory Functions Of The Copyright Office, Joseph Liu
Mar 2016
Regulatory And Adjudicatory Functions Of The Copyright Office, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Invited to serve on a panel at the U.S. Capitol, addressing the future of the Copyright Office. Remarks focused on the idea of granting the Copyright Office greater substantive regulatory authority.
“Private Ordering Or Public Law? The Legal Character Of Technical Standard Setting”, Joseph Liu
Mar 2016
“Private Ordering Or Public Law? The Legal Character Of Technical Standard Setting”, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Comment on Jorge L. Contreras's paper "Private Ordering or Public Law? The Legal Character of Technical Standard Setting."
Copyright Law: Essential Cases And Materials, Alfred Yen, Joseph Liu
Feb 2016
Copyright Law: Essential Cases And Materials, Alfred Yen, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
This casebook emphasizes the essential cases and materials at the heart of copyright law. The result is a streamlined and well-organized casebook of manageable length that keeps the central themes of copyright front and center. It also provides access to a companion Web site containing an extensive library of additional modules, topics, edited cases, notes, problems, and audio-visual materials. Together these materials, along with a companion teacher's manual, allow teachers to easily customize the copyright law course to suit their specific goals. The authors have written extensively about copyright, the arts, and the impact of new technology.
Regulatory Copyright And The Next Great Copyright Act, Joseph Liu
Feb 2016
Regulatory Copyright And The Next Great Copyright Act, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Invited to give a lecture as part of the Loyola University of Los Angeles School of Law IP Speakers Series.
Fair Use, Notice Failure, And The Limits Of Copyright As Property
Dec 2015
Fair Use, Notice Failure, And The Limits Of Copyright As Property
Joseph P. Liu
If we start with the assumption that copyright law creates a system of property rights, to what extent does this system give adequate notice to third parties regarding the scope of such rights, particularly given the prominent role played by the fair use doctrine? Although the fair use doctrine may provide adequate notice to sophisticated third parties, it fails to provide adequate notice to less sophisticated parties, including the general public. Specifically, the fair use doctrine imposes nearly insuperable informational burdens upon the general public regarding the scope of the property entitlement and the corresponding duty to avoid infringement. Moreover, …
What Belongs In Copyright?, Keynote Address, Joseph Liu
Oct 2015
What Belongs In Copyright?, Keynote Address, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Keynote address at Columbia Law School conference, "Copyright Outside the Box," sponsored by the Kernochan Center for Law, Media, and the Arts.
What Belongs In Copyright?, Keynote Address, Joseph Liu
Oct 2015
What Belongs In Copyright?, Keynote Address, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Keynote address at the Columbia Law School conference, "Copyright Outside the Box," sponsored by the Kernochan Center for Law, Media, and the Arts. The conference examined copyright in areas often omitted from the traditional discussion, such as tattoos, gardens, computer-generated works and conceptual art, as well as what authorship means in the 21st century. Professor Liu was the second keynote speaker at the conference, beginning approximately 33 minutes into the video on the linked page.
Notice Failure, Fair Use, And The Limits Of Copyright As Property, Joseph Liu
Sep 2015
Notice Failure, Fair Use, And The Limits Of Copyright As Property, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Presented paper examining the concept of notice failure as applied to copyright law's fair use doctrine.
Paracopyright: A Peculiar Right To Control Access, Joseph Liu
Dec 2013
Paracopyright: A Peculiar Right To Control Access, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
This Chapter analyzes the peculiar right to control access to copyrighted works, created by the U.S. Congress in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA). It argues that Congress, when it enacted the DMCA, had an overly-simplistic understanding of what it would mean to give copyright owners a right to control access to their copyrighted works. In fact, as the subsequent case law has revealed, the concept of “access” is far more complicated, nuanced, and problematic. Access itself can be taken to mean different things when referring to different types of works (e.g. literary works, movies, software, etc.). Moreover, …
The Next Great Copyright Acts: A Global Analysis Of Current Legislative And Industry Developments And Proposed Solutions For Our Modern Digital Environment, Joseph Liu
Oct 2013
The Next Great Copyright Acts: A Global Analysis Of Current Legislative And Industry Developments And Proposed Solutions For Our Modern Digital Environment, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Presentation at the International Bar Association Annual Conference in 2013.
Isp Liability Under U.S. Copyright Law, Joseph Liu
Apr 2013
Isp Liability Under U.S. Copyright Law, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Taught Foreign Copyright Law at Tsinghua University School of Law in Beijing China, and gave public lecture on ISP liability under U.S. Law.
The New Public Domain, Joseph Liu
Dec 2012
The New Public Domain, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
In 1998, Congress extended the term of copyright protection, giving existing copyrighted works an additional twenty years of protection. The practical result was to freeze copyright’s public domain for a period of twenty years. This freeze is about to come to an end. Unless Congress extends the copyright term again, copyrighted works will once again pass into the public domain in 2019, after a twenty-year hiatus. This Article takes a close critical look at the issues that will arise when this happens. It argues that the unique nature of the works passing into the public domain post-2018, along with dramatic …
Owning Digital Copies: Copyright Law And The Incidents Of Copy Ownership, Joseph P. Liu
Oct 2011
Owning Digital Copies: Copyright Law And The Incidents Of Copy Ownership, Joseph P. Liu
Joseph P. Liu
As copyrighted works are increasingly distributed in digital form over the Internet, our conventional print-based understandings of the rights associated with copy ownership are coming into increasing conflict with the copyright owner's right to restrict copying. Specifically, certain common activities, such as reading and transferring physical copies of copyrighted works (such as books), are increasingly being viewed as potential acts of copyright infringement when applied to digital copies. This Article explores this conflict by taking a close look at the concept of copy ownership. It argues that conventional notions of physical property ownership play an important, unrecognized role in copyright …
Sports Merchandizing, Publicity Rights, And The Missing Role Of The Sports Fan, Joseph P. Liu
Oct 2011
Sports Merchandizing, Publicity Rights, And The Missing Role Of The Sports Fan, Joseph P. Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Sports fans play a tremendously important role in the success and popularity of sports teams and the enterprise of sports in general. It is somewhat curious, then, that fan interests are almost entirely missing from discussions about certain important legal issues that have a direct impact on them. Specifically, fan interests play a surprisingly limited role in discussions about sports team merchandising and player rights of publicity. This Article argues that modern sports licensing practices are coming into increasing conflict with the interests of sports fans, and that the law should take greater account of such interests. This Article starts …
Copyright Law's Theory Of The Consumer, Joseph P. Liu
Oct 2011
Copyright Law's Theory Of The Consumer, Joseph P. Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Copyright law has a rather well-developed theory of the author, but it has no similarly well-developed conception of the consumer. This exploratory Article is an attempt to begin piecing together a coherent image of the copyright consumer. The author argues that copyright law currently conceives of consumers in one of two ways, either as passive consumers of copyrighted works or as active authors in their own right. This binary conception of the consumer, however, is incomplete, as it neglects important and complex consumer interests in autonomy, communication, and creative self-expression. By examining these additional interests, it is possible to begin …
Editor-In-Chief Of The Journal Of The Copyright Society Of The U.S.A. For 2011-15, Joseph Liu
Dec 2010
Editor-In-Chief Of The Journal Of The Copyright Society Of The U.S.A. For 2011-15, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Appointed Editor-in-Chief of peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on copyright law.
Saving Journalism From Itself? Hot News, Copyright Fair Use And News Aggregation, Joseph Liu
Apr 2010
Saving Journalism From Itself? Hot News, Copyright Fair Use And News Aggregation, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Served as a panelist at a conference at Harvard Law School on "Journalism's Digital Transition: Unique Legal Challenges and Opportunities," sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
Toward A Defense Of Fair Use Enablement, Joseph P. Liu
Dec 2009
Toward A Defense Of Fair Use Enablement, Joseph P. Liu
Joseph P. Liu
This Essay uses a personal anecdote to highlight a gap in current copyright law. Under current copyright doctrine, companies sued for direct copyright infringement are not generally able to assert the fair use arguments of their customers. Thus, for example, a photocopy shop sued for assembling course packs cannot argue that it is facilitating the fair use privileges of its student customers. This Essay argues that this approach is mistaken because it fails to take adequate account of the important role companies can play in practically enabling the fair use privileges of their customers. To fill this gap, this Essay …
The Mechanical License And The Origins Of Regulatory Copyright, Joseph Liu
Apr 2009
The Mechanical License And The Origins Of Regulatory Copyright, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Analyzing the first compulsory license in U.S. copyright law, and arguing that it served as a template for a more "regulatory" approach to copyright law.
Two-Factor Fair Use?, Joseph Liu
Feb 2008
Two-Factor Fair Use?, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
This Article engages in a thought experiment. It asks whether fair use would be improved if courts gave exclusive consideration to only two of the four statutory factors: (1) the purpose and character of the use; and (2) the impact of the use on the market.6 In other words, fair use under this proposal would be converted from a contextual multi-factor test into a two-factor balancing test in which courts would expressly and directly weigh one consideration against another. The remaining two factors, i.e., the nature of the work and the amount used, would be eliminated from consideration or, alternatively, …
Two-Factor Fair Use?, Joseph P. Liu
Dec 2007
Two-Factor Fair Use?, Joseph P. Liu
Joseph P. Liu
This Article engages in a thought experiment. It asks whether fair use would be improved if courts gave exclusive consideration to only two of the four statutory factors: (1) the purpose and character of the use; and (2) the impact of the use on the market.6 In other words, fair use under this proposal would be converted from a contextual multi-factor test into a two-factor balancing test in which courts would expressly and directly weigh one consideration against another. The remaining two factors, i.e., the nature of the work and the amount used, would be eliminated from consideration or, alternatively, …
Consumer Protection: Inside Copyright Law Or Outside?, Joseph Liu
Mar 2007
Consumer Protection: Inside Copyright Law Or Outside?, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Invited to participate on a panel discussing the impact of consumer protection on copyright law.
Copyright And Breathing Space, Joseph Liu
Dec 2006
Copyright And Breathing Space, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, copyright law's fair use and idea/expression doctrines are "built-in free speech safeguards" that establish a "definitional balance" between copyright and the First Amendment. Yet these "built-in free speech safeguards" are among the most uncertain and ill-defined doctrines in all of copyright law. If we accept the Supreme Court's statement that these doctrines play a critical role as First Amendment safety valves, it follows that the chilling effect of uncertainty in these doctrines has a constitutional dimension. Current copyright law doctrine, however, fails to take into account the potential chilling effect of copyright liability. This …
Enabling Copyright Consumers, Joseph P. Liu
Dec 2006
Enabling Copyright Consumers, Joseph P. Liu
Joseph P. Liu
When is it acceptable for a company to help consumers engage in fair use of copyrighted works? One might think that the answer would be: “always.” After all, a fair use is a privileged use, which copyright grants to consumers of copyrighted works. Shouldn’t a company be entitled to help consumers do this in the most efficient way possible? Shouldn’t such a company, in fact, be lauded for making this process more efficient?
In fact, courts quite frequently hold companies liable for helping consumers engage in activities that would be fair or non-infringing uses if undertaken by consumers themselves. In …
Copyright And Breathing Space, Joseph Liu
Oct 2006
Copyright And Breathing Space, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, copyright law’s fair use and idea/expression doctrines are “built-in free speech safeguards” that establish a “definitional balance” between copyright and the First Amendment. Yet these “built-in free speech safeguards” are among the most uncertain and ill-defined doctrines in all of copyright law. If we accept the Supreme Court’s statement that these doctrines play a critical role as First Amendment safety valves, it follows that the chilling effect of uncertainty in these doctrines has a constitutional dimension. Current copyright law doctrine, however, fails to take into account the potential chilling effect of copyright liability. This …
The Legal Framework Surrounding Digital Rights Management Technologies, Joseph Liu
Oct 2006
The Legal Framework Surrounding Digital Rights Management Technologies, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
Providing legal framework for digital rights management.
Copyright Law And Subject Matter Specificity: The Case Of Computer Software, Joseph P. Liu, Stacey L. Dogan
Dec 2004
Copyright Law And Subject Matter Specificity: The Case Of Computer Software, Joseph P. Liu, Stacey L. Dogan
Joseph P. Liu
Drawing on recent work by Dan Burk and Mark Lemley in the patent context, this paper explores the extent to which courts have adapted pre-existing copyright doctrines to the special case of computer software. We argue that a number of courts have, as has been widely recognized, significantly adapted copyright doctrines to deal
with special features of the computer software market. We further argue that these adaptations have, by and large, positively sought to strike a balance between the copyright act's dual goals of incentive and access. Despite this general trend toward adaptation, however, we point to a handful of …
Regulatory Copyright, Joseph Liu
Dec 2003
Regulatory Copyright, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
This Article explores and examines the implications of the increasingly regulatory nature of U.S. copyright law. For many years, U.S. copyright law operated under a judicially-administered, industry-neutral property rights regime. Congress set the scope of the property entitlement, leaving the courts to enforce the entitlement and the markets to organize the production of creative works in light of the entitlement structure. In recent years, however, Congress has shown an increasing willingness to intervene more directly in the structure of copyright markets. Congress’s most recent legislative efforts are far more complex and industry-specific, allocate rights and responsibilities in a far more …
The Dmca And The Regulation Of Scientific Research, Joseph Liu
Dec 2002
The Dmca And The Regulation Of Scientific Research, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
This Article analyzes the impact of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) on academic encryption research. In this Article, I argue that for both legal and practical reasons academic encryption researchers should be able to conduct and publish certain types of research without significant fear of liability under the DMCA. However, the DMCA will have a non-trivial impact on the conditions under which such research takes place, and this impact can be expected to have several undesirable effects. More broadly, this impact highlights the problematic way in which the DMCA regulates scientific research in furtherance of intellectual property rights. The …
Copyright And Time: A Proposal, Joseph Liu
Oct 2002
Copyright And Time: A Proposal, Joseph Liu
Joseph P. Liu
This Article argues that courts should adjust the scope of copyright protection by considering time as a factor in fair use analysis. More specifically, the longer it has been since a copyrighted work was published, the greater the scope of fair use should be. Up to now, most of the debate over the role of time in copyright law has focused on the controversial issue of copyright duration and term extension. By focusing so narrowly on the end of the copyright term, however, this debate has neglected the more significant issue of how time should affect the scope of copyright …
