Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Aereo's Errors, Ira Steven Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

This article scrutinizes the many troubling errors made by the United States Supreme Court in its decision in American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc. Aereo’s streaming television service allowed subscribers to watch broadcast television on a computer, tablet, or smartphone without requiring them to be directly connected to cable, satellite, or a local antenna. Aereo’s system was designed to comply with existing copyright law by using thousands of antennas, each of which was designated for only one subscriber at a time. Aereo was sued for copyright infringement by a number of leading television broadcasters. The United States Supreme Court, …

Copyright Futures In The Digital Humanities, Laura Quilter

Laura Quilter

Digital humanities work raises questions around digitization, search, and non-consumptive uses of texts, as well as distribution and access. But traditional humanities work is also confronting copyright questions, simply in terms of publishing, using, and accessing humanities research. This discussion, facilitated by Laura Quilter, UMass Copyright and Information Policy Librarian, will address the issues raised in copyright litigation, particularly the Authors Guild v. HathiTrust case and the "digital humanities" amicus brief, and consider the possible Open Access future presented by the Open Library of Humanities and other initiatives.

Super-Intermediaries, Code, Human Rights, Ira Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

We live in an age of intermediated network communications. Although the internet includes many intermediaries, some stand heads and shoulders above the rest. This article examines some of the responsibilities of “Super-Intermediaries” such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, intermediaries that have tremendous power over their users’ human rights. After considering the controversy arising from the incendiary YouTube video Innocence of Muslims, the article suggests that Super-Intermediaries face a difficult and likely impossible mission of fully servicing the broad tapestry of human rights contained in the International Bill of Human Rights. The article further considers how intermediary content-control procedures focus too …

The Fight For The Future: How People Defeated Hollywood And Saved The Internet—For Now, Edward Lee

Edward Lee

No abstract provided.

Implementación De Políticas Corporativas Sobre Internet Y Redes Sociales En México, Rodolfo C. Rivas Rea Esq.

Rodolfo C. Rivas

The author analyzes and describes the necessary elements of a successful social media and Internet corporate policy; through citing common pitfalls and learning lessons from different jurisdictions across the world. The author then offers general guidelines on policies for Mexican enterprises under Mexican legislation.///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////El autor analiza y describe los elementos necesarios de una política corporativa sobre internet y redes sociales exitosa, citando los errores más comunes y aprendiendo lecciones de las legislaciones de distintos países.

Regulating From Typewriters In An Internet Age: The Development & Regulation Of Mass Media Usage In Presidential Campaigns, Anthony J. King

Anthony J. King

The American election process has become a misleading process of campaign promises and self-promotion, thus diluting its primary and most fundamental purpose. This discrepancy can be traced to three primary groups; (1) the candidates, who supplied the motive; (2) the mass media, who supplied the means; and (3) the electorate, who so far have allowed it to happen. Seeking to remedy the situation lawmakers have turned to regulations of the media in attempt to assure fairness and nurture the marketplace of ideas. These numerous attempts at fairness have been met with a mixed reception and mixed results leading to questions …

Navigating The Uncharted Waters Of Teaching Law With Online Simulations, Ira Steven Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

The Internet is more than a place where the Millennial Generation communicates, plays, and shops. It is also a medium that raises issues central to nearly every existing field of legal doctrine, whether basic (such as Torts, Property, or Contracts) or advanced (such as Intellectual Property, Criminal Procedure, or Securities Regulation). This creates tremendous opportunities for legal educators interested in using the live Internet for experiential education. This Article examines how live websites can be used to create engaging and holistic simulations that tie together doctrine, theory, skills, and values in ways impossible to achieve with the case method. In …

Digital Originality, Edward Lee

Edward Lee

This Article examines the doctrine of originality in U.S. copyright law and proposes a reconfigured, three-part test that can better analyze issues of first impression involving works created with new digital technologies. The proposed test, encapsulated by the concept of digital originality, provides much needed guidance to courts to address the increasing complexities of digital creations in the twenty-first century.

Teaching Law With Online Role-Playing Simulations, Ira Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

This document contains materials prepared for the summer 2011 conference of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning held at New York Law School. The concise materials include: a listing of useful online tools; documentation for a miniature simulation; suggested components of an "associate" case file; methodology for formative and summative evaluation; and a sample scoresheet incorporating all ten MacCrate skills. A summary of the presentation is provided below: Live websites provide a dynamic “sandbox” for role-playing simulations that cast students as “lawyers” acting for fictional clients. Such simulations, initially crafted for a Cyberlaw class, can also be used in …

Civil Procedures For A World Of Shared And User-Generated Content, Ira Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

Scholars often focus on the substance of copyrights as opposed to the procedures used to enforce them. Yet copyright enforcement procedures are at the root of significant overreach and deserve greater attention in academic literature. This Article explores three types of private enforcement procedures: direct enforcement (cease-and-desist practice); indirect enforcement (DMCA takedowns); and automated enforcement (YouTube’s Content ID filtering program). Such procedures can produce a “substance-procedure-substance” feedback loop that causes significant de facto overextensions of copyrights, particularly against those creating and sharing User-Generated Content (UGC). To avoid this feedback, the Article proposes descriptive and normative frameworks aimed towards the creation …

Remixing Lessig (Reviewing Lawrence Lessig, Remix (2008)), Edward Lee

Edward Lee

This book review analyzes - and remixes - Lawrence Lessig's last copyright-related book, "Remix." It takes the central ideas, including some quotations, from Remix, and transforms them with some new examples and commentary of my own. Part I summarizes and critiques Lessig’s discussion of (1) the remix and read-write (RW) culture, and (2) its relationship to the sharing, commercial, and hybrid economies. Part II discusses some of Lessig’s reform proposals for our copyright system to foster a remix culture.

The Google Book Search Settlement And The View From The Public Interest World, Laura Quilter

Laura Quilter

No abstract provided.

Looking For Fair Use In The Dmca's Safety Dance, Ira Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

Like a ballet, the notice-and-take-down provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") provide complex procedures to obtain take-downs of online infringement. Copyright owners send notices of infringement to service providers, who in turn remove claimed infringement in exchange for a statutory safe harbor from copyright liability. But like a dance meant for two, the DMCA is less effective in protecting the "third wheel," the users of internet services. Even Senator John McCain - who in 1998 voted for the DMCA - wrote in exasperation to YouTube after some of his presidential campaign videos were removed due to take-downs. McCain …

Google Booksearch And Library Digitization, Laura Quilter, Jack Lerner

Laura Quilter

No abstract provided.

Section 512 In The Educational Context, Laura Quilter

Laura Quilter

No abstract provided.

Intellectual Property And Free Speech In The Online World: How Educational Institutions And Other Online Service Providers Are Coping With Cease And Desist Letters And Takedown Notices, Laura Quilter, Marjorie Heins

Laura Quilter

Study of educational institutions and online service providers (Internet service providers) and their responses to cease and desist notices.

Davidson & Associates, Inc. V. Internet Gateway, Inc. ("Bnetd"), Eighth Circuit, Brief Of Amici Curiae Consumers Union And Public Knowledge In Support Of Internet Gateway, Inc., Tim Jung, Ross Combs And Rob Crittenden, Laura Quilter, Jennifer Urban, Deirdre Mulligan

Laura Quilter

Amicus brief to the Eighth Circuit.

Davidson & Associates, Inc. V. Internet Gateway, Inc. ("Bnetd"), Eighth Circuit, Brief Of Amici Curiae Consumers Union And Public Knowledge In Support Of Internet Gateway, Inc., Tim Jung, Ross Combs And Rob Crittenden, Laura Quilter, Jennifer Urban, Deirdre Mulligan

Jennifer M. Urban

Mgm V. Grokster, Brief Amici Curiae Of The Computer & Communications Industry Association And Internet Archive, In Opposition To The Writ Of Certiorari, To The United States Supreme Court, Laura Quilter, Peter Jaszi

Laura Quilter

Amicus on behalf of the Internet Archive and the CCIA, requesting the Supreme Court of the United States to deny the petition for certiorari in the MGM v. Grokster case.

Mgm V. Grokster, Brief Amici Curiae Of The Computer & Communications Industry Association And Internet Archive, In Opposition To The Writ Of Certiorari, To The United States Supreme Court, Laura Quilter, Peter Jaszi

Peter Jaszi

Mgm V. Grokster, Brief Amici Curiae Of 40 Intellectual Property And Technology Law Professors Supporting Affirmance By The Ninth Circuit Of The Lower Court, Laura Quilter, Jennifer Urban, Pam Samuelson, Deirdre Mulligan

Laura Quilter

Amicus brief in the MGM v. Grokster case.

Mgm V. Grokster, Brief Amici Curiae Of 40 Intellectual Property And Technology Law Professors Supporting Affirmance By The Ninth Circuit Of The Lower Court, Laura Quilter, Jennifer Urban, Pam Samuelson, Deirdre Mulligan

Jennifer M. Urban

The Continuing Expansion Of Cyberspace Trespass To Chattels, Laura Quilter

Laura Quilter

No abstract provided.

Rules And Standards For Cyberspace, Edward Lee

Edward Lee

No abstract provided.

Legitimacy And Authority In Internet Coordination: A Domain Name Case Study, Joseph P. Liu

Joseph P. Liu

Internet Infoglut And Invisible Ink: Spamdexing Search Engines With Meta Tags, Ira Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

This Article addresses 'spamdexing,' namely, the practice of stuffing invisible keywords into webpages in order to try to get more favorable listings with search engines. For instance, some website owners will stuff the trademarks of competitors into a webpage’s code, particularly by using 'meta tags,' indexing keywords that can be hidden in a webpage’s source code. Although meta tags are not typically viewed by users, the code can be read by search engines, with the result that webpages may be improperly boosted in search engine rankings. Such practices can confuse the public and have also spurred trademark lawsuits. But the …

Showdown At The Domain Name Corral: Property Rights And Personal Jurisdiction Over Squatters, Poachers And Other Parasites, Ira Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

This paper on domain names disputes has two main goals. The first is to analyze the principal points of litigation in domain name disputes, namely, personal jurisdiction and trademark liability. The second is to propose an analytic framework to better help resolve matters of jurisdiction and liability. Regarding personal jurisdiction, domain names are problematic because an internet site can be viewed almost anywhere, potentially subjecting the domain name owner to suit everywhere. For example, should a Florida domain name owner automatically be subject to suit in Alaska where the site can be viewed? If not, then where? Regarding liability, trademark …