Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Daniel J Gervais

Selected Works

Intellectual Property Law

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

The Protection Of Performers Under U.S. Law In Comparative Perspective, Daniel Gervais Apr 2015

The Protection Of Performers Under U.S. Law In Comparative Perspective, Daniel Gervais

Daniel J Gervais

The Garcia v Google case raised fundamental questions about US law as it applies to performed works. This Essay uses a comparative lens to shed some hopefully useful light on the debate. The Essay proceeds essentially in two parts. First, the Essay explores and critiques the international protection of performers’ rights using both history and policy as focal points. The following part describes the protection of performers and other owners of “related rights” in US law and explains the differences that adopting a related rights regime would bring about in the United States.


Plain Packaging And The Interpretation Of The Trips Agreement, Daniel J. Gervais, Susy Frankel Nov 2013

Plain Packaging And The Interpretation Of The Trips Agreement, Daniel J. Gervais, Susy Frankel

Daniel J Gervais

Plain packaging of cigarettes as a way of reducing tobacco consumption and its related health costs and effects raises a number of international trade law issues. The plain packaging measures adopted in Australia impose strict format requirements on word trademarks (such as Marlboro or Camel) and ban the use of figurative marks (colors, logos, etc.). As a result, questions have been raised as to plain packaging’s compatibility with the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). WTO members can validly take measures to protect and promote public health, but in doing so they …


The Landscape Of Collective Management Schemes, Daniel J. Gervais Sep 2011

The Landscape Of Collective Management Schemes, Daniel J. Gervais

Daniel J Gervais

This paper, based on a keynote talk at Columbia Law School, reviews the nature of collective management organizations (CMOs), their regulation, in particular the difference in the US regulatory regimes for performing rights organizations (PROs), digital transmissions of sound recordings and reprography. The paper reviews the incoherent rate-setting processes under consent decrees and sections 112 and 114 of the US Copyright Act. The paper also considers the role that CMOs can and should play in empowering new business models and modes of access to online material.


Cloud Control: Copyright, Global Memes And Privacy, Daniel J. Gervais, Daniel J. Hyndman Jan 2011

Cloud Control: Copyright, Global Memes And Privacy, Daniel J. Gervais, Daniel J. Hyndman

Daniel J Gervais

This paper examines the shift from the Internet connection paradigm to an amalgamation paradigm. Ultimately, almost all personal and commercial content will be stored or backed up in the computing Cloud. This is likely to change the way in which copyright is enforced and users' privacy is protected.


Feist Goes Global: A Comparative Analysis Of The Notion Of Originality In Copyright Law, Daniel J. Gervais Jun 2002

Feist Goes Global: A Comparative Analysis Of The Notion Of Originality In Copyright Law, Daniel J. Gervais

Daniel J Gervais

he 1991 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc. delivered was hailed both as a landmark decision and a legal bomb. Was Feist so original as to deserve all the attention? After all, it did not establish a new originality paradigm as such but only ended a long division among federal circuits concerning the protection under copyright of factual compilations. A number of circuits had adopted a test similar to the one articulated in Feist (i.e., based on creative selection), while others required only evidence of labor, a test known as sweat of the …