Digital Commons Network^™

Running From Blanket Licensing: How Fitness Platforms Do Not Sync With Current Music Licensing Procedure, Kathryn Defranco

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Online Fitness Platforms, like Peloton, have become ubiquitous in a modern post-Covid world. Fitness classes are catered to the musical interests of their users, increasing user satisfaction. Although technology has advanced to accommodate the remote fitness industry, the legal structures in place for synchronization licenses have not. Such platforms have a unique need to clear music on a quick and consistent basis that does not break the bank. Downtown Music Publishing LLC v. Peloton Interactive, Inc., highlights the necessity for a federal statutory scheme similar to those used for other music licenses. A solution that protects competition but does not …

Everybody Wants To Rule The World: Central Bank Digital Currencies In The Era Of Decoupling The World’S Two Largest Economies, James M. Cooper

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Some 130 central banks around the world are experimenting with various levels of a central bank digital currency (“CBDC”), a digitized form of a sovereign-backed, national currency that is a liability of that country’s central bank. Unlike fiat currency, CBDCs are trackable and potentially subject to interference and even freezing by government authorities. CBDCs will affect citizens’ control over commerce, payments, and savings, and impact their privacy rights. The Chinese government has piloted, refined, and rolled out its own CBDC called the Digital Currency/Electronic Payment initiative (“DC/EP”), also known as the digital yuan or e-CNY. The Chinese government is far …

The Need For An International Ai Research Initiative: How To Create And Sustain A Virtuous Research-Regulation Cycle To Govern Ai, Kevin Frazier

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

This paper explains the need for an international AI research initiative. The current focus of lawmakers at the subnational, national, and international level on regulation over research has created an imbalance, neglecting the critical role of continuous, informed research in developing laws that keep pace with rapid technological advancements in AI.

The proposed international AI research initiative would serve as a central hub for comprehensive AI risk analysis, modeled on successful precedents like CERN and the IPCC. CERN exemplifies a collaborative research environment with pooled resources from member states, leading to significant advancements in particle physics. Similarly, the IPCC has …

Why The Protect Working Musicians Act's Proposed Antitrust Exemption Needs To Be Enacted, Olivia Finlayson

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ball V. City Of Lincoln, Nebraska

Denver Sports & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Boogaard V. National Hockey League

Denver Sports & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Beyond Amateurism: Examining The Potential Labor Expenses Of Ncaa Student-Athlete Employment, Alayna K. Falak

Honors Thesis

In light of recent administrative developments urging the classification of student-athletes as employees, litigation challenging the current status of student-athletes, and the Supreme Court’s willingness to tackle National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) issues, many questions surrounding the future of college sports under an employment model have emerged. The authors analyzed key litigation, recent developments from administrative agencies, and academic literature. Then publicly available data was used from the NCAA, the United States Department of Labor (DOL), and other sources to construct two estimates of what it would cost the NCAA member institutions to treat their Division I athletes as employees. …

The Rise And Fall Of A Video Game Dynasty And Its Road Back To Glory, Kade Rogerson

Marketing Undergraduate Honors Theses

For years the EA Sports NCAA Football series had been a long-standing success story in the world of sports video games. Combining the unique feel of collegiate athletics with the realistic nature of the game that its technology provides led the series to be a major source of revenue for Electronic Arts, Inc. in the extremely competitive and profitable industries of video games and sports merchandising.

However, the series came to an abrupt halt in 2013. Spearheaded by the O’Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit, EA was forced to discontinue the series after legal action was taken regarding the game’s unauthorized use …

Cerveza Cristal: A Copyright Loophole In A Beer Ad From 2003?, Sebastian Saavedra Irarrazaball

AELJ Blog

The internet stumbled onto a ready-made meme last month in the form of 20-year-old beer commercials from South America1. Back in 2003, a Chilean advertising agency decided to elevate the art of product placement. Their canvas: a planned broadcast of the original trilogy of Star Wars during a primetime slot on the second most popular national channel. DVDs were in their commercial infancy in the country, VHS tapes were available, but not everywhere. There was a guaranteed, captive audience.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on April 30, 2024. The original post …

Downstreaming, Rachel Landy

Faculty Articles

Spotify and its competitors all offer the same product at the same price. Why? Scholars have argued that relationships can be designed in a way that naturally promotes innovation. By “braiding” certain formal contracting practices with informal enforcement norms, parties develop a frame-work that supports trust and positive, long-term collaboration. This Article takes on this consensus and shows that not all braiding is good. Using the multibillion-dollar subscription music streaming business as an illustration, it demonstrates just how industry forces can, and do, overcome braiding’s positive slant. In that industry, the major record labels (Universal, Warner, and Sony) weaponize braiding …

The Kids Are Not Alright: A Look Into The Absence Of Laws Protecting Children In Social Media, Libby Morehouse

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

No abstract provided.

Aiming For Fairness: An Exploration Into Getty Images V. Stability Ai And Its Importance In The Landscape Of Modern Copyright Law, Matthew Coulter

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

A Timeless Principle: Copyright Before The Statute Of Anne, Victoria Lieberman

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Innovation At A Crossroads: The Supreme Court's Influence On Pharmaceuticals, Trade Policies, And Public Health, Beau Reeves

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Beautifying The Human Experience: The Road To Knocking Out The Knockoff Industry Through Adaptions To Copyright & Design Patent Protections For Clothing, Moira Mccabe

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Virtual Gaming, Actual Damage: Video Game Design That Intentionally And Successfully Addicts Users Constitutes Civil Battery, Allison Caffarone

Duke Law & Technology Review

In recent years, there has been increased academic interest in both the neurological effects of compulsive gaming and the potential tort liability of game developers who scientifically engineer games in order to addict users. Scholars from various disciplines are currently debating the scope and potential solutions to the problems associated with Gaming Disorder, now a globally recognized illness. This article contributes to this discussion by offering a multidisciplinary analysis of the scope of video game addiction, its neurological bases, and its relation to the legal rights and responsibilities of victims and game developers. In addition, this article explores the practical …

Constitutional Rights Of Artificial Intelligence, Mizuki Hashiguchi

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

On February 8, 2022, the Italian Parliament approved constitutional amendments to protect the environment. A member of Parliament stated that the environment is an element of Italy, and that safeguarding the environment means safeguarding humans. The need to protect the environment seems to have become a critical component of public conscience. Likewise, if society perceives that artificial intelligence is vitally important for humanity, does constitutional law allow constitutional rights for artificial intelligence to be created?

Extending constitutional rights to artificial intelligence may be consistent with the jurisprudential history of rights. Constitutional rights have undergone metamorphosis over time to protect new …

Rembrandt’S Missing Piece: Ai Art And The Fallacies Of Copyright Law, Eleni Polymenopoulou

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

This article discusses contemporary problems related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), law and the visual arts. It suggests that the fallacies of copyright law are already visible in legal conundrums raised by AI in the creative sector. These include, for instance, the lack of uniformity in relation to creations’ copyrightability, the massive scale of copyright infringement affecting visual artists and the creative industry, and the difficulties in implementing media regulation and cyber-regulation. The deeply cherished ‘human authorship’ criterion that was sustained recently by a US Federal Appeals Court in Thaler, in particular, is a short-term solution to the legal challenges …

Emojis: An Approach To Interpretation, Patricia Vilma Graham

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

Reinventing The Silver Screen… Again: The Copyright Licensing Implications Of Using Video Game Technology For Virtual Production On Film And Tv Sets, Nicholas M. Medellin

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

The Underwater: Using Art To Engage Communities Around Climate Action, Xavier Cortada

University of Miami Law Review

This Article delves into the intersection of art and environmental activism, with a focus on the impact of climate change. Cortada, both an artist and trained attorney, re-counts his three-decade journey leveraging art to inspire community engagement and address social and environmental challenges. He explains how Antarctic researchers made him aware of South Florida's vulnerability to sea level rise, leading to the development of interactive art projects that foster civic engagement and climate advocacy. The Article also addresses the challenges posed by climate denial and misinformation, emphasizing the need for creative strategies to combat these issues.

Cortada introduces specific participatory …

Robots As Pirates, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

Catholic University Law Review

Generative AI has created much excitement over its potential to create new works of authorship in the literary and graphical realms. Its underling machine-learning technology works by analyzing the relations among elements of preexisting material in enormous databases assembled from publicly available and licensed sources. Its algorithms “learn” to predict “what comes next” in different types of expression. A complete system thus can become glib in creating new factual summaries, essays, fictional stories and images.

A number of authors of the raw material used by Generative AI engines claim that the machine learning process infringes their copyrights. Careful evaluation of …

Give Or Take—Is The Droit De Suite A Taking Without Just Compensation?, Jeremy Cohen

Pepperdine Law Review

The Constitution mandates Congress to protect the arts and sciences directly by creating an exclusive right called copyright. However, visual artists such as painters, sculptors, and photographers in the United States still cannot participate in the significant profits from the secondary sales of their copyrighted works at public and private auctions. In over eighty countries worldwide, the droit de suite, also known as the Artist Resale Royalty (ARR), grants visual artists such royalties. Unfortunately, the United States currently lacks such a royalty, despite multiple unsuccessful attempts by Congress to pass federal legislation. Although California enacted its own version of the …

Coded Social Control: China’S Normalization Of Biometric Surveillance In The Post Covid-19 Era, Michelle Miao

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

This article investigates the longevity of health QR codes, a digital instrument of pandemic surveillance, in post-COVID China. From 2020 to 2022, China widely used this tri-color tool to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. A commonly held assumption is that health QR codes have become obsolete in post-pandemic China. This study challenges such an assumption. It reveals their persistence and integration - through mobile apps and online platforms - beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency. A prolonged, expanded and normalized use of tools which were originally intended for contact tracing and pandemic surveillance raises critical legal and ethical concerns. Moreover, their …

Stakeholder Capitalism’S Greatest Challenge: Reshaping A Public Consensus To Govern A Global Economy, Leo E. Strine Jr., Michael Klain

Seattle University Law Review

The Berle XIV: Developing a 21st Century Corporate Governance Model Conference asks whether there is a viable 21st Century Stakeholder Governance model. In our conference keynote article, we argue that to answer that question yes requires restoring—to use Berle’s term—a “public consensus” throughout the global economy in favor of the balanced model of New Deal capitalism, within which corporations could operate in a way good for all their stakeholders and society, that Berle himself supported.

The world now faces problems caused in large part by the enormous international power of corporations and the institutional investors who dominate their governance. These …

Tackling Bias In Sport: Recognizing The Impact Of Identities, Meg Hancock --Assoc. Prof.

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Studies suggest participation in organized sports--from childhood to adulthood--promotes positive physical, social, emotional, and intellectual benefits that impact individuals and their communities over a lifetime. Sports participation in early childhood and adolescence also leads to higher self-esteem, greater wage-earning potential, lower health costs, reduced chronic disease, and lower levels of depression. In adulthood, participating in sports provides social connection, personal enjoyment, and improved health. In US society, sports are often viewed as a popular, viable, and sustainable avenue for social mobility. While the benefits of sports participation are unequivocal, the visibility and influence of star athletes, along with the way …

Stakeholder Governance On The Ground (And In The Sky), Stephen Johnson, Frank Partnoy

Seattle University Law Review

Professor Frank Partnoy: This is a marvelous gathering, and it is all due to Chuck O’Kelley and the special gentleness, openness, and creativity that he brings to this symposium. For more than a decade, he has been open to new and creative ways to discuss important issues surrounding business law and Adolf Berle’s legacy. We also are grateful to Dorothy Lund for co-organizing this gathering.

In introducing Stephen Johnson, I am reminded of a previous Berle, where Chuck allowed me some time to present the initial thoughts that led to my book, WAIT: The Art and Science of Delay. Part …

Capitalism Stakeholderism, Christina Parajon Skinner

Seattle University Law Review

Today’s corporate governance debates are replete with discussion of how best to operationalize so-called stakeholder capitalism—that is, a version of capitalism that considers the interests of employees, communities, suppliers, and the environment alongside (if not before) a company’s shareholders. So much focus has been dedicated to the question of capitalism’s reform that few have questioned a key underlying premise of stakeholder capitalism: that is, that competitive capitalism does not serve these various constituencies and groups. This Essay presents a different view and argues that capitalism is, in fact, the ultimate form of stakeholderism. As such, the Essay urges that the …

Stakeholder Governance As Governance By Stakeholders, Brett Mcdonnell

Seattle University Law Review

Much debate within corporate governance today centers on the proper role of corporate stakeholders, such as employees, customers, creditors, suppliers, and local communities. Scholars and reformers advocate for greater attention to stakeholder interests under a variety of banners, including ESG, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and stakeholder governance. So far, that advocacy focuses almost entirely on arguing for an expanded understanding of corporate purpose. It argues that corporate governance should be for various stakeholders, not shareholders alone.

This Article examines and approves of that broadened understanding of corporate purpose. However, it argues that we should understand stakeholder governance as extending well …

Going Forward: The Role Of Affirmative Action, Race, And Diversity In University Admissions And The Broader Construction Of Society, Steven W. Bender

Seattle University Law Review

The third annual EPOCH symposium, a partnership between the Seattle University Law Review and the Black Law Student Association took place in late summer 2023 at the Seattle University School of Law. It was intended to uplift and amplify Black voices and ideas, and those of allies in the legal community. Prompted by the swell of public outcry surrounding ongoing police violence against the Black community, the EPOCH partnership marked a commitment to antiracism imperatives and effectuating change for the Black community. The published symposium in this volume encompasses some, but not all, the ideas and vision detailed in the …