Digital Commons Network^™

An "Absence Of Meaningful Appellate Review": Juries And Patent Obviousness, Theresa Weisenberger

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The rise in the number of patent infringement trials heard by juries has brought criticisms of the jury's expansive role to the forefront of patent law commentary. Under current Federal Circuit practice, the jury is permitted to deliver a verdict on patent obviousness. Especially in light of the 2007 Supreme Court decision KSR International Co. v. Teleflex, Inc., the role of the jury in obviousness determinations has come under particular scrutiny. This Note examines the effect of the jury's expansive role in obviousness determinations on appellate review of these verdicts. It begins by examining the two conflicting views of the …

Transformative Use And Cognizable Harm, Thomas F. Cotter

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In recent years, the question of whether the unauthorized use of a copyrighted work is "transformative" has become a dominant consideration in determining whether the use is fair or unfair. As critics have pointed out, however, this emphasis on transformative use is both underinclusive and indeterminate of the range of uses that fall within the scope of the fair use privilege. Worse yet, efforts to define or apply the concept of transformative use, or to distinguish fair transformative uses from transformative uses that infringe the copyright owner's exclusive right to prepare derivative works, often serve only to illuminate the concept's …

Copyright, Derivative Works, And The Economics Of Complements, Glynn S. Lunney, Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

From an economic perspective, copyright is irrational. In defining the scope of a copyright owner's exclusive rights, it treats situations that have similar economic consequences differently, as infringement in one case and not in the other, and situations that have radically different economic consequences similarly. This essay explores such area in which copyright exhibits economic irrationality: Copyright's treatment of complements. Where a lower price on a substitute reduces demand for the original, a lower price on a complement increases it. So defined, copyright addresses whether a copyright owner will control three different types of complements: (i) complementary products, such as …

A Preliminary First Amendment Analysis Of Legislation Treating News Aggregation As Copyright Infringement, Alfred C. Yen

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The newspaper industry has recently experienced economic difficulty. Profits have declined because fewer people read printed versions of newspapers, preferring instead to get their news through so-called "news aggregators" who compile newspaper headlines and provide links to stories posted on newspaper websites. This harms newspaper revenue because news aggregators collect advertising revenue that newspapers used to enjoy.

Some have responded to this problem by advocating the use of copyright to give newspapers the ability to control the use of their stories and headlines by news aggregators. This proposal is controversial, for news aggregators often do not commit copyright infringement. Accordingly, …

A Generation Of Racketeers? Eliminating Civil Rico Liability For Copyright Infringement, Julie L. Ross

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This article addresses questions raised in recent years by the increasingly severe penalties for copyright infringement, focusing on potential civil RICO liability as illustrated by a hypothetical peer-to-peer file-sharing example. Because civil litigation has been, by a wide margin, the favored means for pursuing copyright violators, the criminal copyright infringement statute remains largely untested, and the few cases that address its provisions offer conflicting interpretations. Now that RICO penalties are available in civil copyright infringement cases, courts faced with resolving the ambiguities in the application of the criminal copyright infringement provisions will need to reconcile divergent policies. To effectuate its …

Abuse Under The Big Top: Seeking Legal Protection For Circus Elephants After Aspca V. Ringling Brothers, Emily A. Beverage

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The Asian elephants featured in the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus are theoretically guaranteed humane treatment by the Animal Welfare Act, which ostensibly protects animals in exhibition, and by the Endangered Species Act, which covers the treatment of animals designated endangered species, including Asian elephants. Nevertheless, circus elephants have suffered extensive abuse because the agencies responsible for implementing the laws--the United States Departments of Agriculture and the Interior, respectively--have not done so aggressively, and because animal advocates have been unable to compel their enforcement or to establish standing to sue private parties. In 2000, animal welfare organizations, including …

Google Books: Page By Page, Click By Click, Users Are Reading Away Privacy Rights, Kathleen E. Kubis

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Google Books will likely become the world's most extensive book and magazine search and browsing resource, library, and bookstore--combined. However, as users necessarily reveal personal identifying information through their book searches and reading habits, this service poses a significant threat to personal privacy.

Because the Google Books Amended Settlement Agreement neglects to meaningfully address user privacy, the only available privacy protections are the limited rights bestowed by the Google Books Privacy Policy and the Google Privacy Policy. Unfortunately, these Privacy Policies protect the interests of Google at the expense of users.

The enactment of federal privacy statutes, which include provisions …

7 An Interactive Installation: Explorations In The Digital, The Spiritual, And The Uncanny, Bradley Paul Lewter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the application of digital technologies in the creation of visionary or transformative artwork. The installation emphasizes number, color, symmetry, and the human form to create symbolic compositions patterned after ancient archetypes. Background research was done to inform the work through studies of the principles of visionary and transformative artwork as practiced by Ernst Fuchs, De Es Schwertberger, and Alex Grey. Connections between art and spirituality as explained by Kandinsky were studied to augment these principles. The sequence of artwork within the installation is comprised of both digital paintings and interactive triptych panels. To convey a sense of …

Evelyn Offscreen: An Application Of Interactive Performance Methodsin Alternate Reality Gaming, Dawn Borglund

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For my thesis project for the Masters of Fine Art in Film and Digital Media, I designed and produced Evelyn Offscreen, an alternate reality game (ARG) that was facilitated by interactive performance. The goal was to create an interactive experience that allowed several players to collaboratively create story across numerous media within the field of alternate reality gaming. The approach used in Evelyn Offscreen was intended to provide a degree of creative freedom to the players that has not been demonstrated in other ARG experiences and to use digital media to capture information about the relative effectiveness of the different …

A Beautiful Belly: Toward An Intimate Cinema Through Microbudget Production Techniques, Andrew Gay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Beautiful Belly is a feature-length, microbudget, digital motion picture produced, written, and directed by Andrew Kenneth Gay in pursuit of the Master of Fine Arts in Film & Digital Media from the University of Central Florida. The guiding question behind the production of A Beautiful Belly was whether digital "no budget" production was particularly suited to the telling of a particular kind of cinematic story - the interior journey. The pursuit of an intimate cinema shaped every decision by the filmmaker and his collaborators, and this thesis is a record of their production experience.

Red Tide: A Feature Length Motion Picture, Dino Gallina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The following document provides insight into the uncharted process of producing a micro-budget feature length film. This paper aims to document my growth as an artist in terms of storytelling and filmmaking as well as the development and production process. Red Tide: A Feature Length Motion Picture includes elements from each phase of the production process, from story and script development to marketing and distribution. This document reflects on the obstacles we faced and the solutions we implemented during the process of creating a feature length motion picture on an undersized budget.

Microhardness And Caries Resistance Of An Infiltrant Resin In A Novel Artificial Mouth, Ian Saad Mugisa

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of Trout Habitat Restoration In Eustache Creek, A Formerly Placer-Mined Stream In Western Montana, Emily K. Thompson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Thompson, Emily, Master of Science, July 2010 Environmental Studies The Effectiveness of Trout Habitat Restoration in Eustache Creek, a Formerly Placer-Mined Stream in Western Montana Committee Chair: Dr. Daniel Spencer Aquatic ecosystems in the western U.S. have been severely degraded over the last century by anthropogenic activities such as mining, logging and grazing. Habitat heterogeneity in streams of the western United States has been lost as a result of both in-stream activities (i.e. dredging and straightening channels) and riparian zone activities (i.e. logging and vegetation removal). A commonly stated objective of stream channel restoration projects is to restore stream habitat …

The Last Standing Bear: A Documentary Film On The Life And Work Of Charles Jonkel, Shannon Kelly Donahue

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Last Standing Bear: The life and work of Charles Jonkel is a documentary film about Dr. Charles Jonkel, a pioneer of polar bear biology, and his contributions to science, conservation and community. Jonkel was among the first scientists to capture and handle black bears and polar bears, was instrumental in developing international conservation and management strategies for polar bears, and has influenced generations of biologists, conservationists, activists, and students through his scientific research, teaching, advocacy, and character. The Last Standing Bear attempts to interpret Jonkel’s contribution to science, conservation, and community. Using direct cinema, the film examines Jonkel’s life …

The Use Of Natural Product Substrates For The Synthesis Of Libraries Of Biologically Active, New Chemical Entities, Joshua Bryant Phillips

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Since Alexander Fleming first noted the killing of a bacterial culture by a mold, antibiotics have revolutionized medicine, being able to treat, and often cure life-threatening illnesses and making surgical procedures possible by eliminating the possibility of opportunistic infection. However, during the past 30 years many of the infections that were once easily cured by the proper antibiotic are no longer so due to a precipitous rise in multi-drug resistant organisms. This rise in multi-drug resistant organisms poses a grave threat to the medical advances that have been made in the past century and underscores the need for new antibiotics. …

Message From The Editor, Nicole Hutchinson

Pepperdine Policy Review

An introduction to this volume by the editor.

The Honduran Question: The U.S. Answer To Latin America, Lindsay Young

Pepperdine Policy Review

Honduras grabbed international headlines when the Honduran Military removed José Manuel Zelaya Rosales from power on June 28, 2009. This paper uses the instability in Honduras as a case study of how the United States should respond to threats to democracy, and approach questions of democratic legitimacy in Latin America. It will first evaluate democratic contentions to put the Honduran crisis into a broader historical context. Next, it will examine the legality of the actions that triggered the democratic crisis because, though legality is not sufficient for legitimacy, it should be an important consideration in determining foreign policy responses. It …

Terrorism And Game Theory: From The Terrorists’ Point Of View, Kevin Chlebik

Pepperdine Policy Review

This paper investigates the interplay between two distinct terrorist cells of the same terrorist organization using game-theoretic models. It will discuss the economic consequences of terrorism and provide a literature review. Much of the available literature focuses on national policies and the effects such policies have on terrorists’ behavior. The approach taken here differs in that the primary focus is on terrorists’ behavior. By studying decisions terrorists make and understanding why they make them, better counterterrorism policies can be developed.

The Rise Of Russia And The National Security Implications For The United States, Matthew Saha

Pepperdine Policy Review

How the United States approaches its relationship with Russia must be an important consideration when devising the U.S.’s national security strategy. The security implications for the U.S. are profound because Russia’s role in the ever-growing global environment reaches many different countries and regions of the world. This paper aims to review the U.S.’s relationship with Russia, past and present, while recognizing how Russia’s leadership, military, economic, and energy policies will play key roles in that association. Additionally, this paper will focus on the options, challenges, and threats that are present in the U.S.’s relationship with Russia, as well as provide …

The Policy Debate Over The Bailout Plan, Kevin Simons

Pepperdine Policy Review

This paper analyzes the policy debate over the Federal Government’s bailout of the financial industry in 2008.

The Bush-Obama Stimulus Programs And The Future Of American Capitalism, Randall Holcombe

Pepperdine Policy Review

This paper discusses the implications of the measures that the U.S. Federal Government has taken in response to the recent financial crisis. It focuses on the Federal Reserve, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Obama stimulus package, and the bailouts of various industries by the Federal Government. This paper argues that these policies undermine the fundamental incentives of the market economy, but what we can learn from these policies to avoid similar negative consequences in the future.

The Future Of Regulation, Jerry Ellig

Pepperdine Policy Review

This paper discusses the prevalence of regulation in the U.S. It provides the necessary background information on the process for creating regulations, how scholars can measure the increase in regulation, and the different types of regulations. This paper then goes on to discuss the five major recent trends in regulation and the implications of these trends for the future.

Latin America And The Financial Crisis Of 2008: Lessons And Challenges, Luisa Blanco

Pepperdine Policy Review

In October of 2008 there were two main views of what the financial crisis would do to emerging countries in Latin America. The optimistic view predicted that they would do well overall and that the crisis would not have a significant impact on them because their economies were decoupled from the rest of the world. The pessimistic view saw these economies as vulnerable to the financial crisis, which meant they would become unstable and perform poorly. Over a year later, the outcome is something in between. This article will explain the current state of the financial crisis in Latin America …

Bio/Organic Compound Detection Using Sodium Sulfate Minerals: Implications In The Search For Life On Mars And Europa, Charles Doc Richardson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

With the discovery of Na-sulfate minerals (thenardite, mirabilite) on Mars and Europa, recent studies using these minerals have focused on their ability to assist in the detection of biosignatures. On Earth, biotic and biotic processes can assist in the formation and deposition of these minerals. A primary objective of these studies is the detection of bio/organic compounds that may be associated with the mineral. These biosignatures would imply biological involvement during mineral formation. The following research presents a series of natural and synthetic investigations to determine if biological activity is associated with Na-sulfate mineralization, and if these minerals can assist …

The Discipline Of Happiness, Courtney Leigh Christopher

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A deeply personal Journey, “The Discipline of Happiness” blends fundamental philosophy with the power of visual art. In a 42‐year quest for purpose certain theories have been tried, championed, discredited, and discarded. The distillation of these ideas into my current theory provides, more saliently than the theory itself, a venue for discussion of the creative process. My creativity often manifests itself in visual terms. Through the medium of an extended artist statement I reflect on the virtues of thinking in both a linguistic and spatial manner. Orchestrating the dual modes of inquiry, semantic and visual, into a single narrative highlights …

The Puzzle Of Problem-Solving Efficacy: Understanding Anxiety Among Urban Children Coping With Asthma-Related And Life Stress, Kara Klein Murdock, Carolyn Greene, Sue K. Adams, William Hartmann, Sally Bittinger, Kelly Will

Human Development and Family Science Faculty Publications

Children with asthma living in urban environments are at risk for experiencing anxiety by virtue of both social context and health-related stressors. Although the use of active coping strategies is generally associated with more optimal psychosocial functioning, there is evidence that active coping is less helpful in response to uncontrollable or severe stress. Expectations that one can fix a problem that is uncontrollable or insurmountable may create distress. Problem-solving efficacy was examined as a moderator of the association between stress and anxiety among children residing in inner-city neighborhoods. It was hypothesized that children's perceptions of high problem-solving efficacy would exacerbate …

Inactivation Of Escherichia Coli By Ozone Treatment Of Apple Juice At Different Ph Levels, Sonal Patil, Vasilis Valdramidis, Patrick J. Cullen, Jesus Maria Frias, Paula Bourke

Articles

This research investigated the efficacy of gaseous ozone for the inactivation of Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and NCTC 12900 strains in orange juice. Orange juice inoculated with E. coli (10⁶ CFU mL^-1) as a challenge microorganism was treated with ozone at 75-78µg mL^-1 for different time periods (0-18 min). The efficacy of ozone for inactivation of both strains of E. coli was evaluated as a function of different juice types: model orange juice, fresh unfiltered juice, juice without pulp, and juice filtered through 500mm or 1mm sieves. Fast inactivation rates for total reduction of E. coli …

Process Optimization For The Developmenht Of A Functional Beverage Based On Lactic Acid Fermentation Of Oats, Shilpi Gupta, Sabrina Cox, Nissreen Abu-Ghannam

Articles

Oats (Avena sativa) have received considerable interest for their high content of soluble and insoluble fibre and for their high fermentability upon applying probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB). In the present study, Box–Behnken optimization design was used to optimize three different levels of oat, sucrose and starter culture concentration on the final viable cell population of Lactobacillus plantarum for the development of a fermented drink. A second-order polynomial response surface equation was developed indicating the effect of the studied variables on L. plantarum growth. Contour maps generated using the response surface equation showed that the experimental variables significantly affected the …

Salvation Or A Lethal Dose? Attitudes And Advocacy In Right To Refuse Treatment Cases, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

The debate surrounding the right to refuse treatment controversy continues unabated in the relevant law and social science literature. However, there are two areas where scant research attention is found. These include the attitudes of patients and staff regarding right to refuse treatment decisions and the adequacy of counsel availed to patients who assert their constitutionally protected right to refuse. This article examines both issues, mindful of what they tell us about sanism and pretextuality with respect to mental disability law and right to refuse treatment jurisprudence.

Naturally Understanding Naturalism, Stewart Goetz

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.