Law Commons^™

Cyberspace Charities: Fundraising Tax Issues For Nonprofit Organizations In An Internet World, Hans Famularo

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Nonprofit organizations are increasingly relying on the internet as a fundraising tool. This note provides an overview of tax issues affecting online fundraising and suggests certain tax planning strategies to avoid the Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) rules in anticipation of the possible position that the U.S. Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service may take in the future regarding online fundraising.

A Proposal To Shore Up The Foundations Of Patent Law That The Underwater Line Eroded, A, Edwin H. Taylor, Glenn E. Von Tersch

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article examines the trend of modern patent jurisprudence in the United States, focusing on the development of the law since the landmark Federal Circuit decision of Underwater Devices Inc. v. Morrison Knudsen Co. Inc. in 1983. Specifically, the authors contend that Underwater and its progeny have skewed the proper interpretation and use of the rule against willful infringement, causing litigants to overuse (or even abuse) the willful infringement doctrine and, more importantly, inhibiting one of the twin goals of the patent laws, disclosure of useful inventions. To address this negative trend, the authors propose a change in the standard …

Privacy On-Line: Washington Report, Nicholas W. Allard

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Over the last year there have been significant developments marking the emergence of a framework for national and international policy relating to privacy on the Internet and World Wide Web. This Article details recent cyberpolicy activities in Washington, including the Clinton Administration's 1997 White Paper, which outlines the Administration's strategy for fostering business and consumer confidence in global electronic commerce. This Article also discusses recent Federal Trade Commission guidelines for regulation and developments relating to privacy on-line in the European Union. This Article summarizes proposed legislation in the areas of both encryption and privacy.

Should Congress Regulate Cyberspace, Greg Y. Sato

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The Internet has undergone an amazing transformation in recent years. It has evolved from being a medium used exclusively by "techies" to one of general public consumption and utility. Because of this increased interest in and use of the Internet, cyberspace is quickly becoming an important forum for communication and commerce.

This Note discusses the history of the Internet, what makes it unique, and the current state of the law relating to cyberspace. This Note also examines the issue of whether congressional regulation of the Internet is needed. The author suggests that some intervention by Congress is needed because current …

Down In Front: Entertainment Facilities And Disabled Access Under The Americans With Disabilities Act, Katherine C. Carlson

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note deals with the problem of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in sports and entertainment venues. The beginning of the note briefly describes the scope of the ADA and the meaning of the provisions which are relevant to the problem of public entertainment facilities. It also discusses the remedies that the ADA offers in such accommodation situations. After this overview of the ADA's theoretical application, the note then looks at the ADA in actual practice and whether it has actually caused sports and entertainment facilities to adequately accommodate disabled patrons. An examination of some prominent cases …

Regulating Cyberspace: Metaphor, Rhetoric, Reality, And The Framing Of Legal Options, Clay Calvert

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Article argues that the "information superhighway" metaphor is a strategically chosen rhetorical device used to frame debate about Internet and telecommunications regulation, to implicitly suggest the particular legal choices are more viable-and valid-than others, and to guide the future of law in cyberspace. In particular, the metaphor embraces a commerce-based, marketplace model of regulation that emphasizes speed and quantity of information as a product or good rather than the content or quality of communication and its ability to sustain extant communities and cultures. Along the way, the Article traces the development of the "information superhighway" metaphor and explores some …

Setting The Standard: Problems Presented To Patent Holders Participating In The Creation Of Industry Uniformity Standards, David M. Schneck

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Note examines the problems that arise when the owner of proprietary rights participate in the setting of open industry uniformity standards. These open standards typically include patented technology, sometimes due to the participation of the patent owners in developing the industry standard. Often, standards development committees require disclosure of patents held by participants. After widespread adoption of the standard occurs, the patent owners then face the dilemma of either abandoning some part of their patents or attempting to enforce their patents in courts inclined to hold them estopped. This Note discusses recent developments in this area, including judicial hostility …

Tobacco Is A Filthy Weed And From The Devil Doth Proceed: A Study Of The Government's Efforts To Regulate Smoking On The Silver Screen, Jason Edward Lavender

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Many of the negative effects of tobacco have been addressed by recent litigation and federal regulations. The federal government already regulates tobacco label and advertisement content and prohibits tobacco promotion on television and radio. There are lingering concerns, however, about the effects of depicting tobacco use in movies. This Note examines current tobacco regulations and the justifications asserted for new restrictions on the use of tobacco in movies. This Note further analyzes the First Amendment implications of a ban on tobacco use in movies, and concludes that such use is commercial speech that should be granted heightened Constitutional protection.

Interpreting The Communications Assistance For Law Enforcement Act Of 1994: The Justice Department Versus The Telecommunications Industry & (And) Privacy Rights Advocates, Hildegarde A. Senseney

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Note examines what began as a very common-sense idea: law enforcement's surveillance capabilities needed to be protected in the face of new, high technology communications devices that were making law enforcement's task much more difficult, if not impossible. This was the primary motivation behind the passage of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

As the compliance date fot the Act draws nearer, many issues are still open to fierce debate between the Federal Bureau Of Investigation, the telecommunications industry and privacy rights advocates. The telecommunications industry claims that the FBI is demanding capacity and technological standards …

Bowie Bonds: A Key To Unlocking, The Wealth Of Intellectual Property, Nicole Chu

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Before David Bowie broke a new frontier in financing by selling $55 million in bonds backed by future music royalty payments and copyrights, music royalties and copyrights had never previously been securitized due to the uncertainty in predicting future cash flows. The concept of intellectual property securitization resolves the dilemma of inexpensively raising a large amount of money, while still retaining ownership in the underlying intellectual property. Asset securitization of intellectual property touches upon copyright, bankruptcy, tax, and securities law, as well as being impacted by the Uniform Commercial Code. This Note provides a brief overview of the securitization structure, …

Jazzing Up The Copyright Act - Resolving The Uncertainties Of The United States Anti-Bootleggin Law, Susan M. Deas

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

With the addition of Section 1101 to United States copyright law, the United States Congress did more than just attempt to bring United States law into compliance with its obligations under TRIPs. By allowing live musical performers to seek remedies against anyone who, without performers' consent, commits Section 1101 subject acts, such as fixation of the sounds or sounds and images of the performers' live musical performance, Congress granted a type of protection of well-nigh constitutional significance. That is, Congress granted protection to unfixed material-an enactment that departs from the traditional interpretation of the Copyright Clause power as permitting congressional …

A Brief Return To The Digital Sampling Debate, Matthew G. Passmore

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note revisits the problem of digital sampling by musicians and the copyright law issues that arise from it. After briefly surveying the historical and technical aspects of digital sampling, the note asks the question: "are transformative digital samples art?" and answers in the affirmative. The note then looks at the goals and doctrine of copyright law, and how they are implicated by the digital sampling problem. Finally, the note advocates an expanded interpretation of the fair use copyright defense in digital sampling cases, arguing that such an expansion would both effectuate the goal of copyright enforcement and recognize the …

Licensed To Kill: The Battle Between Patent And Antitrust In Monopoly Leveraging Cases, David A. Schnider

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note puts a new spin on a longstanding subject of scholarship and controversy in the law: the conflict between the patent and antitrust laws in the United States. The author examines this conflict in the context of monopoly leveraging cases. Since patents are a unique and powerful tool that companies use to gain advantage in the marketplace, they seem to allow the owner to engage in behavior which amounts to monopoly leveraging. However, such conduct is prohibited under the antitrust laws, specifically by Section 2 of the Sherman Act. If a patent exists to give its owner certain commercial …

Coscarart V. Major League Baseball: No Field Of Dreams, Ronald P. Wargo

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note explores a less glamorous aspect of baseball's "golden" past: the sport's forgotten and financially neglected players. Due to the structure of Major League Baseball's retirement compensation system, a certain group of former players--some of whom were stars in their day--were entitled to no retirement benefits at all from the sports which they helped make great. Focusing on an action brought by one of these former players against Major League Baseball (MLB), the note explores both the statutory and common law right of publicity claims that these ex-players may have against MLB for the uncompensated exploitation of the players' …

Type No Evil: The Proper Latitude Of Public Educational Institutions In Restricting Expressions Of Their Students On The Internet, Garner K. Weng

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In this article, Mr. Weng discusses the growing problem of regulation and suppression by academic institutions of offensive or political communications transmitted by students over the Internet. The article explores the traditional powers of schools to regulate student communication and attempts to define what types of regulations are legally permissible. The article also examines the cases which do not fall into this traditional category, which are subject to a standard First Amendment analysis, and argues that the fact that this conduct involves Internet communications does not require a different standard than is used for other forms of media communication. Mr. …

Signal Bleed: Congress Attacks When It Sounds Like Sex, Josh C. Grushkin

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Section 505 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 attempts to eliminate the phenomenon of signal bleed from sexually explicit adult channels. This Note argues that section 505 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 should ultimately be found unconstitutional, and that Congress address the phenomenon of signal bleed of sexually explicit programming through other alternatives which are less constitutionally offensive.

Internet Telephony - The Regulatory Issues, Hank Intven, Mark Zohar, Jay Howard

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

Hong Kong's Copyright Ordinance: How The Ban On Parallel Imports Affects The U.S. Entertainment Industry And Hong Kong's Free Market, Alison L. Morr

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Parallel importing has attracted debate, pairing free trade and consumer choice against copyright owners and exclusive licensees' rights. Hong Kong law prevents licensees from exporting a product outside a designated area, but also forms geographic monopolies from which the exclusive licensee receives economic benefits. This Comment assesses Hong Kong's copyright protection by comparing proponent and opponent arguments, and analyzing the external pressures surrounding the passage of the Copyright Ordinance and a similar Taiwanese restriction. The focus of this Comment is on the Copyright Ordinance's effects on parallel importing in exclusive licensees' territories, specifically the influx of international entertainment products.

Copyright, Culture & (And) Black Music: A Legacy Of Unequal Protection, K. J. Greene

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article explores how African-American music artists, as a group, were routinely deprived of legal protection for creative works under the copyright regime. The issue of copyright deprivation and Black artists is highly significant, given the enormous cultural contribution of Black music to American society, the importance of the music to Black culture, and the tremendous economic benefits at stake. As new issues develop in copyright law, it will be important to people of color, and to an egalitarian society as a whole, that the new copyright regime not duplicate the inequalities of the old. An underlying assumption of race-neutrality …

Toxic Television, Editorial Discretion, & (And) The Public Interest: A Rocky Mountain Low, Clay Calvert

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In the modem world of newsmedia, the lines between informative news and gratuitous entertainment have been blurred by a increase in "infotainment" broadcasting and by news shows which often use violence or other entertainment devices to increase audiences. This trend has given rise to concerns that the current regulatory scheme is not properly categorizing this type of "news" and is not sufficiently warning or protecting viewers. In this article, Professor Calvert examines the questions surrounding this controversy. To illustrate some of these issues, this article looks at a recent challenge brought by a Colorado group to the renewal of the …

The College Bowl Alliance And The Sherman Act, Lafcadio Darling

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Note examines the factual features of the college football Bowl Alliance and analyzes the antitrust issues that they raise. Ultimately, this Note discusses whether a court would find that the Bowl Alliance does indeed cross the line drawn by the Sherman Act.

Trade Dress Protection For Product Configurations And The Federal Right To Copy, Margareth Barrett

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

Censorship In Chinese Cinema, Mary Lynne Calkins

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

With any film or play produced in China receiving close government scrutiny at each step of production, this article examines censorship in Chinese cinema in an attempt to make sense of a tradition of sometimes seemingly arbitrary decisions by the authorities. Film, as a particularly visible and communicative media, is particularly subject to governmental interference, and the Chinese government has exploited that vulnerability to the fullest. This article attempts to demonstrate that China takes a similar approach to film censorship as it does to contracts, in the sense that censorship involves continual "negotiations" rather than binding agreement, and in the …

A New Program For Action: Strengthening The Standards For Noncommercial Educational Licensees, Randi M. Albert

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article explores the history of noncommercial television and radio broadcasting, and evaluates the utility and efficacy of the FCC's current standards for determining when broadcasting qualifies as "noncommercial" and is eligible for benefits concomitant with this status. Professor Albert posits that, in order to effectively evaluate the existence of a commercial/noncommercial broadcast distinction at all, one must look at the development of the law in this area and determine whether the current rules are serving their stated function. To this end, the article traces the history of noncommercial broadcasting and explicates the purpose for such a status. It also …

Keeping The World Safe From Naked-Chicks-In-Art Refigerator Magnets: The Plot To Control Art Images In The Public Domain Through Copyrights In Photographic And Digital Reproductions, Kathleen Connolly Butler

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article addresses an emerging and significant problem in the realm of copyright and art law: the control of public domain art images through the copyright of photographic and digital reproductions. This problem occurs since galleries or collections have control over the duplication of fine art images by the public and have used this control to generate exclusive reproductions of the art, which, under present law, are copyrightable themselves, precluding public use of these images of concededly public domain art. Professor Butler argues that this de facto control over art which is rightfully in the public domain both gives economic …