Digital Commons Network^™

Virtual Reality, Appropriation, And Property Rights In Art: A Roundtable Discussion, Wendy J. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Virtual reality is user-interfacing technology that tracks the kinetic movement, changes, and reactions in the body of an operator using devices that provide comprehensive and exclusive sensory excitation (in the sense that perceptual input from outside the system is excluded as much as possible). The technology simultaneously allows information and commands to be input back into the system as effortlessly as possible. Virtual reality can be thought of as total sensory immersion in the input and output of a computer system: everything one sees, feels, and hears comes from the computer, and everything the user does goes back in. It's …

Mandated Access: Commensurability And The Right To Say "No", Wendy J. Gordon, Anne E. Gowen

Faculty Scholarship

Here is the problem as Congress saw it: A distributor of television programming (a cable television operator or a distributor of television programming via other media) cannot thrive unless it can supply viewers with top-rated programming. Few customers want to subscribe to a service that lacks NBC's Seinfeld, the latest episodes of General Hospital, or even PBS educational documentaries. Special provisions in the 1976 Copyright Act gave cable operators some liberty to retransmit broadcast programming. However, that Act created no such liberties for programming originating from within cable companies. Because the national market for programming is dominated by …

Evaluating Ethics Committees: A View From The Outside, Diane E. Hoffmann

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Second-Order Flexoelectric Effect In Chiral Nematic Liquid Crystals, D. W. Cronin, Rolfe G. Petschek, Eugene M. Terentjev

Faculty Scholarship

A molecular-statistical model for the second-order flexoelectric effect in chiral nematics is developed, accounting for additional chiral terms in the pair intermolecular potential U(1,2). It is shown by symmetry analysis, that there are four independent chiral terms in the flexoelectric polarization, proportional to the square of director gradients, ℘∼λ∇ n∇n. A molecular-statistical theory is developed for the second-order chiral flexoelectric constants λ. Their values, obtained in the mean-field approximation, depend on molecular dimensions, interaction parameters, and the degree of molecular chirality. Possible experimental situations are discussed where this effect can be observed.

Truth And Consequences: The Force Of Blackmail's Central Case, Wendy J. Gordon

Faculty Scholarship

Blackmail commentary continues to proliferate. One purpose of this paper is to show what we agree on. Its primary tool will be to define what I call the "central case" of blackmail literature, and to supply the connecting links that will allow us to see how various normative theories converge in condemning central case blackmail. Admittedly, the law criminalizes more than my central case. But once we recognize that the central case is neither puzzling nor paradoxical, it may be easier to handle the border cases that arise.

Assisted Suicide: A Tough Pill To Swallow, Mary Margaret Penrose

Faculty Scholarship

The first part of this Comment will present the historical and theological views towards suicide. This background material will be helpful in understanding present-day society's response to the assisted suicide debate by tracing many of the condemnations back through common law development. The second portion of this Comment will focus on the current status of the assisted suicide debate. Although most courts have passed on the issue" and most legislatures do not have laws addressing assisted suicide, there is a great deal of activity shaping the legal future of this topic. This section emphasizes the importance of key nonlegal players …

1990 Farm Bill's Inaccessible-Resource Provision Applies To Vehicles, David A. Super

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The New Spectrum Auction Law, Nick Allard

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Charity Begins At Home: Alternatives In Nonprofit Regulation, Jon M. Garon

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Should Mcmahon Be Revisited?, Constantine N. Katsoris

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Who Was That Masked Court - An Introduction To Texas' New Special Court Of Review, Jim Paulsen, James Hambleton

Faculty Scholarship

Suppose, for some reason we can only dimly imagine, that an attorney set out to find a Texas legal definition of "chicken----." Since West's key number system was not set up with any particular items of profanity in mind, a savvy legal researcher would start with the computers. A nationwide LEXIS search quickly retrieves a surprisingly large number of cases mentioning "chicken----," including the US. Supreme Court's groundbreaking ruling that the phrase is "street vernacular" not warranting a contempt citation for its mere mention in court. Unfortunately, the reported case law contains no satisfactory definition of "chicken----."

But wait ... …

The Protective Power Of The Presidency, Henry Paul Monaghan

Faculty Scholarship

Walter Bagehot's still-admired study of the English Constitution distinguished between its "dignified" and "efficient" parts. Bagehot argued that the English Constitution's "dignified" theory of parliamentary supremacy masked the (then) dominant reality of cabinet government. Attacking what he described as the "literary" theory of the American Constitution, Woodrow Wilson posited a similar distinction. Writing in 1885, Wilson asserted that the "literary" theory of American government embodied in Federalist's "ideal checks and balances of the federal system" obscured its efficient principle: "government by the chairmen of the Standing Committees of Congress." An ardent admirer of ministerial government, Wilson especially lamented the condition …

The Command And Control Of United Nations Forces In The Era Of "Peace Enforcement", James W. Houck

Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores how concerns regarding the United Nations' authority to make political, strategic, and operational decisions that comprise the right to command and control UN forces might be reconciled within the framework of the United Nations Charter to create a contemporary and more enduring regime for the command and control of United Nations forces. As Part II demonstrates, command and control issues are not new to the United Nations; indeed, in 1945 the signatories to the United Nations Charter created a model for the command and control of United Nations forces.

While the cold war ensured that this model …

The Eclipse Of Reason: A Rhetorical Reading Of Bowers V. Hardwick, Kendall Thomas

Faculty Scholarship

In a careful and compelling reading of the text of the Supreme Court's opinion in Bowers v. Hardwick, Janet Halley provides a meticulous map of the misprisions by which the Hardwick Court "exploit[s] confusion about what sodomy is in ways that create opportunities for the [judicial] exercise of homophobic power." According to Professor Halley, the duplicitous mechanisms the Hardwick Court marshals in reasoning about sodomy entail a mobilization of two "incommensurable articulations": the idea of the sodomitical act, on the one hand, and that of personal identity, on the other.

Professor Halley rightly insists that an anti-homophobic critique …

A Tribute To Justice Byron R. White, Lewis F. Powell Jr., Rhesa H. Barksdale, David M. Ebel, Lance Liebman, Charles Fried

Faculty Scholarship

Of 107 Justices in 205 years, only twelve have served longer than thirty years, and every long-serving Justice has made a substantial contribution to the institution - offering a steady and dedicated response to the judicial challenges of an era, asserting leadership at a time of national crisis, or articulating a large constitutional vision. The personal qualities and life experiences that a new Justice brings to the Court contain the seeds of the individual's judicial service. Justice White, a skeptical but unflinching democrat, was no exception.

Legacy And Future Of Corrections Litigation, Susan P. Sturm

Faculty Scholarship

This Article attempts to provide a framework for assessing the legacy and future of public interest advocacy in one particular area – corrections. It documents a shift from a test case to an implementation model of advocacy, and urges the development of effective remedial strategies as a method of linking litigation to a broader strategy of correctional advocacy.

I have chosen to focus on this particular institutional context for several reasons. On a pragmatic level, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, which for the last twenty years has been the primary source of funding for corrections litigation by private, nonprofit organizations, …

Past And Current Trends In The Evolution Of Design Protection Law- A Comment, Jerome H. Reichman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Trips Component Of The Gatt’S Uruguay Round: Competitive Prospects For Intellectual Property Owners In An Integrated World Market, Jerome H. Reichman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Historical Lines Of Demarcation: Competition Law, Intellectual Property Rights, And International Trade After The Gatt's Uruguay Round, J. H. Reichman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The 1992 Cable Act: Just The Beginning, Nick Allard

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Reinventing Rate Regulation, Nick Allard

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

"Arising Under" Jurisdiction And The Copyright Laws, Amy B. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

Does a claim arise under the copyright laws when a critical allegation is that a party's use of a copyrighted work is unpermitted and infringing because such use was limited by the terms of a contract? The federal courts of appeals have confronted this question in a number of recent cases. Many have concluded that federal jurisdiction exists, reversing district court judgments of dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Despite these repeated attempts to resolve the matter, however, this question continues to confound the courts, which lack a clear approach to defining when a claim arises under the copyright …

Back From The Brink, Joel Gora

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Why There Should Be An Independent Decennial Commission On The Press, Lee C. Bollinger

Faculty Scholarship

In 1947, the Commission on Freedom of the Press chaired by Robert M. Hutchins, published its report entitled "A Free and Responsible Press:" Sharply criticized by the media when published, the Hutchins Commission Report (as it has come to be known) seems to have assumed only minor status within the history of freedom of the press in this century, as well as among reports on social problems generally. In this article, I will consider whether the Hutchins Commission Report deserves a different fate. Given the media's usually astounding self-preoccupation, the fact that the Report was about the "press" would lead …

Reel Time/Real Justice, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw

Faculty Scholarship

Like the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings a few months before, the Rodney King beating, the acquittal of the Los Angeles police officers who "restrained" him and the subsequent civil unrest in Los Angeles flashed Race across the national consciousness and the gaze of American culture momentarily froze there. Pieces of everyday racial dynamics briefly seemed clear, then faded from view, replaced by presidential politics and natural disasters.

This Essay examines in more depth what was exposed during the momentary national focus on Rodney King. Two main events – the acquittal of the police officers who beat King and the civil …

Copyright Without Walls?: Speculations On Literary Property In The Library Of The Future, Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

This essay considers the application and adaptation of copyright law to the library of the future. In this "library without walls," works will be accessible by computer to users near and far. While a printed book usually is read by only one person at a time, that same book in digital format may be simultaneously consulted by as many users as have PCs linked by modem to the library. Where collecting quotations from printed sources today requires transcription or photocopying, in the library of the future it may be possible to download and print out excerpts, or even the entire …

Lawyers At The Prison Gates: Organizational Structure And Corrections Advocacy, Susan Sturm

Faculty Scholarship

The rise of the public interest law movement ushered in an era of intense debate over the best way to provide legal representation to those unable to afford private counsel. This debate has involved two related dimensions of public interest representation. First, advocates and observers of public interest practice disagree over the proper role of lawyers acting on behalf of poor and underrepresented clients. They offer competing visions of representation spanning a continuum, from providing equal access to the courts for as many poor people as possible, to attacking the causes and effects of poverty and powerlessness.

The second dimension …

Feminism And Disciplinarity: The Curl Of The Petals, Carol Sanger

Faculty Scholarship

In this Symposium, feminism has been invited to take a place alongside such well-established disciplines as history, philosophy, and economics in a consolidated exploration of interdisciplinary approaches to law. While sincerely extended – the feminist entry is not the only one that women are writing – and generously unbounded as to scope, ... the invitation raises what for many is a prior question: Is feminism a discipline at all?

As the feminist delegate to this interdisciplinary Symposium, I have therefore taken as my initial task consideration of the issue implicit in the invitation: feminism's credentials as a discipline. I explore …

Longterm Strategies In Japanese Environmental Litigation, Setsuo Miyazawa

Faculty Scholarship

Japan's reputation for unusually strong emphasis on the avoidance of public conflict and therefore for de-emphasis of legal institutions suggests an arid, hostile environment for litigators, especially those who lack substantial resources. In a study of a quasi-class action lawsuit by Japanese air pollution victims, we find that litigation can be developed as a tool in the pursuit of a social movement's wider objectives despite the paucity of resources within the Japanese legal system. Our research documents the many ways in which the delays, obstacles, and costs that characterize the litigation environment in Japan have been either neutralized or turned …

Dielectric Properties And Ferroelectricity In Main-Chain Nematic Polymers, Eugene Terentjev, Rolfe G. Petschek

Faculty Scholarship

The longitudinal dielectric susceptibility of a polar (directed) thermotropic main-chain nematic polymer is derived in the mean-field approximation, accounting for long-range interaction forces and the local-field effects in the media. It is shown that this susceptibility exponentially increases for some range of orientational order and then either diverges or saturates at some characteristic degree of order. This is expected in some circumstances to result in a true ferroelectric phase. A simple calculation of this transition is given, assuming that long-range dipolar interactions are the only relevant polar interactions. Other relevant effects and the limitations of our approximation are discussed briefly.