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Full-Text Articles in Law
Web Accessibility For Impaired Users: Applying Physical Solutions To Digital Problems, Deeva V. Shah
Web Accessibility For Impaired Users: Applying Physical Solutions To Digital Problems, Deeva V. Shah
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") aims to prevent discrimination against the disabled in places of public accommodation. Unlike many other anti discrimination statutes, the ADA requires places of public accommodation to take affirmative steps to ensure access for the impaired. Courts currently differ on whether a place of public accommodation requires a physical location or whether nonphysical places, such as a retailer's website, also fall under the statute. Some courts apply the nexus test to determine the whether the ADA applies to online content. Under the nexus test, there must be a connection between a physical …
Why Should We Care What Fitbit Shares?: A Proposed Statutory Solution To Protect Sensitive Personal Fitness Information, Michelle M. Christovich
Why Should We Care What Fitbit Shares?: A Proposed Statutory Solution To Protect Sensitive Personal Fitness Information, Michelle M. Christovich
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This note examines the privacy implications of fitness trackers, devices such as Fitbit, which measure users’ movements, fitness habits, and overall health in granular detail. This note explores the privacy dangers of using fitness trackers generally and in the specific context of the workplace and Big Data. This note also draws parallels between the personal health information protected by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) and the personal fitness information collected by fitness trackers. This note argues that a statutory scheme, modeled after HIPAA, should be established in order to protect the sensitive personal fitness information gathered by …
A Call For Minority Involvement In Cybersecurity Legislation Reform And Civil Rights Protests: Lessons From The Anti-Sopa/Pipa Demonstrations., Kiran Sidhu
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This note examines one of the many pieces of cybersecurity legislation currently before Congress, the Cyber Intelligence Protection and Sharing Act (“CISPA”). This note illustrates CISPA’s deleterious effects on the privacy and security of American citizens as a result of its provisions that provide federal agencies and private companies legal immunity for sharing private information. However, this note ultimately avers that bills like CISPA will have a particularly negative impact on civil rights demonstrators–and especially demonstrators belonging to minority groups–given the U.S. history of surveillance of such groups during periods of social and political unrest. As such, this note will …
Conflict In The Network Of Networks: How Internet Service Providers Have Shifted From Partners To Adversaries, Rob Frieden
Conflict In The Network Of Networks: How Internet Service Providers Have Shifted From Partners To Adversaries, Rob Frieden
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This paper will examine new models for the carriage of Internet traffic with an eye toward providing insights on how the interconnection process has changed and what positive and negative consequences have resulted. Internet carrier interconnection used to constitute a cooperative undertaking, but now it increasingly requires difficult and protracted negotiations between ventures that consider themselves adversaries in a winner take all transaction. The paper concludes that new commercial arrangements, such as paid peering, can achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. However, the paper also identifies instances where migration from traditional interconnection arrangements has the potential to reduce overall utility of the …
Evaluating Intent In True Threats Cases: The Importance Of Context In Analyzing Threatening Internet Messages, P. Brooks Fuller
Evaluating Intent In True Threats Cases: The Importance Of Context In Analyzing Threatening Internet Messages, P. Brooks Fuller
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Following the Supreme Court's most recent ruling on the true threats doctrine in Virginia v. Black, significant conflict emerged among the federal circuit courts. On one hand, several circuit courts disagreed interpreted the holding in Virginia v. Black as a requirement of applying a subjective intent standard into all statutes that criminalize true threats. On the other hand, some circuit courts interpreted the holding as a requirement for prosecutors to prove that a reasonable person would consider the message as a true threat. A speaker's use of social networking websites and Internet forums for the purpose of posting violent and …
Talent Managers Acting As Agentsrevisited: An Argument For California's Imperfect Talent Agencies Act, Myles L. Gutenkunst
Talent Managers Acting As Agentsrevisited: An Argument For California's Imperfect Talent Agencies Act, Myles L. Gutenkunst
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Talent managers in California have traditionally faced severe penalties under the Talent Agencies Act (TAA) for simple acts of procuring employment for their artist-clients. Commentators, interest groups, and justices have pointed out these flaws and proposed alternative remedies to provide managers with some equity when violating the statute. These advocates have argued for an adoption of the incidental booking exception that is present in New York's employment agency statutes. However, this proposal and other proposed alternatives actually undercut the policy that the Talent Agencies Act seeks to protect. This note will compare California's TAA and New York's employment agency laws, …
You Can Use Hidden Recorders In Florida, Thomas R. Julin, Jamie Z. Isani, Paulo R. Lima
You Can Use Hidden Recorders In Florida, Thomas R. Julin, Jamie Z. Isani, Paulo R. Lima
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The Florida Supreme Court faces a difficult decision in McDade v. State. The court must decide whether the statements recorded on a hidden recording device can be used to convict a man accused of sexually assaulting his step-daughter. This article traces the controversial history of Florida's Security of Communications Act and shows that it does not in ban the use of secret recordings of face-to-face conversations by any part to the conversations. The Florida courts, however, have misread the law for decades and this article urges the Florida Supreme Court to set the record straight in McDade. This article argues …
Adopting Subsequent Remuneration Right In Chinese Copyright Law, Xi Chen
Adopting Subsequent Remuneration Right In Chinese Copyright Law, Xi Chen
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
One heavily and contentiously argued clause in Chinese Copyright Law amendment drafts focuses on the practicality of granting authors of audiovisual works the legal right to collect subsequent remunerations (“SRR”) when their works are reused in subsequent exploitations. With the rapid increase of social media channels for the Chinese movie industry, and other entertainment industries relying on a heavy usage of audiovisual work, authors demand that they should be entitled to the profit earned from derivative markets and other media channels beyond the first intended market. In order to balance the conflicting interest between the author and the producer, and …
White Men Still Dominate Reality Television: Discriminatory Casting And The Need For Regulation, Henna Choi
White Men Still Dominate Reality Television: Discriminatory Casting And The Need For Regulation, Henna Choi
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
In 2012, two African-American males, who unsuccessfully applied to be the Bachelor, sued ABC under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, alleging that the producers of reality shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette intentionally excluded people of color from the lead role. The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee concluded that the First Amendment was a complete bar to the plaintiffs' section 1981 claim with respect to casting decisions for the television programs. Moreover, the court did not allow the plaintiffs to litigate their untimely employment discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. …
Small Steps For Congress, Huge Steps For Online Privacy, Jugpreet Mann
Small Steps For Congress, Huge Steps For Online Privacy, Jugpreet Mann
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
As the creation of data has exponentially increased with Internet usage, U.S. companies have found a variety of ways to collect personal data and create value from such data. This innovation, however, comes at the cost of an individual's right to privacy. The U.S. government's current approach to online privacy has failed to properly regulate the collection and utilization of the immense amounts of personal data being generated. This note explains how companies collect and create value from personal information. This note draws upon the history of privacy, how Congress currently addresses online privacy, and the states' and other nations' …
Access To Information About Lethal Injections: A First Amendment Theory Perspective On Creating A New Constitutional Right, Clay Calvert, Emma Morehart, Kéran Billaud, Kevin Bruckenstein
Access To Information About Lethal Injections: A First Amendment Theory Perspective On Creating A New Constitutional Right, Clay Calvert, Emma Morehart, Kéran Billaud, Kevin Bruckenstein
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This article examines, through the lens of First Amendment theory, current judicial debate regarding the access rights of inmates and the public to detailed facts about lethal- injection drugs, personnel, and procedures. The article uses several 2014 appellate court disputes as analytical springboards, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s groundbreaking decision in Wood v. Ryan. The article argues that the First Amendment doctrine developed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Press-Enterprise II too narrowly cabins and confines access rights in lethal-injection data cases. In contrast, three venerable theories of free expression–the marketplace of ideas, democratic self-governance, …
The Costs And Benefits Of Regulatory Intervention In Internet Disputes: Lessons From Broadcast Signal Retransmission Consent Negotiations, Rob Frieden
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The Internet increasingly provides an alternative distribution medium for video and other types of high value, bandwidth intensive content commonly called Internet Protocol Television ("IPTV"). While many consumers have become indifferent about their wire line or wireless service provider, they expect their video service providers to offer access anytime, anywhere, via any device, and in any format. These early adopters of new technologies have no patience with the concept of "appointment television" that limits access to a specific time, presentation, and channel. My article offers a clear assessment of whether and how the FCC can resolve disputes that can prevent …
Digital Music Garage Sale: An Analysis Of Capitol Records, Llc V. Redigi Inc. And A Proposal For Legislative Reform In Copyright Enabling A Secondary Market For Digital Music, Nicholas Costanza
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
In 2011, ReDigi, Inc., a Massachusetts-based tech company, created the first resale marketplace for lawfully purchased digital music. This "digital resale" platform immediately drew the attention of copyright holders in the music industry. In early 2012, Capitol Records, LLC sued ReDigi, claiming that the service violated Capitol's exclusive rights to reproduction and distribution of their copyrighted words under the Copyright Act of 1976. Ultimately, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York held in favor of Capitol. This note explains this case and discusses the complex relationships between "secondary digital market" technology and current copyright law. …
Richard Sherman, Rhetoric, And Racial Animus In The Rebirth Of The Bogeyman Myth, Nick J. Sciullo
Richard Sherman, Rhetoric, And Racial Animus In The Rebirth Of The Bogeyman Myth, Nick J. Sciullo
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
After the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC Championship game, the postgame interview of Richard Sherman, a defensive back for the Seahawks, became subject to racialized discourse in the media. This article draws upon important concepts of black danger, blackness and the media, and racial animus to explain how media pundits and online commentaries about the interview have created a modem-day version of the bogeyman. In so doing, the article theorizes a new logic to racial animus-the myth of the bogeyman-to expound on the confluence of race, law, and sports. This new approach will help to explain covert racism in the …
Right-Sizing Broadband Spectrum Auction Licenses: The Case For Smaller Geographic License Areas In The Tv Broadcast Incentive Auction, William Lehr, J. Armand Musey
Right-Sizing Broadband Spectrum Auction Licenses: The Case For Smaller Geographic License Areas In The Tv Broadcast Incentive Auction, William Lehr, J. Armand Musey
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This article examines the potential impact of smaller-sized license territories in the context of the FCC's upcoming 2016 Broadcast Incentive Auction-the largest, most complex auction to date. The purpose of the auction is to free up to 120 MHz of prime spectrum in the 600 MHz band, currently licensed to over-the-air television broadcasting, to repurpose for licensing mobile broadband and other higher value wireless services. This article argues that using smaller territories is more consistent with the longterm direction of efficient spectrum management reform and future wireless market. The article also explains how adopting small geographic territories is necessary to …
Recovery Of Nazi-Related Art: Legal Aspects Under German And U.S. Law Exemplified By The Gurlitt Case, Michael Rebholz
Recovery Of Nazi-Related Art: Legal Aspects Under German And U.S. Law Exemplified By The Gurlitt Case, Michael Rebholz
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Since November 3, 2013, a case regarding Nazi-looted art-known as the Gurlitt casehas garnered the attention of the media and the art industry in both Germany and the United States. This case arose from German authority's confiscation of approximately 1500 pieces of valuable art found in Cornelius Gurlitt's apartments in Germany and Austria. He claimed that he was the legal owner of the artworks that people believed to have been destroyed during World War It. This article first answers the question of how this case would be resolved under German law by focusing primarily on the question of whether Cornelius …
The Internet Is A Packet-Switched Network, Kendall Koning
The Internet Is A Packet-Switched Network, Kendall Koning
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Since the Supreme Court's decision in National Cable Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet Services, many legal scholars have considered the question of whether the FCC may choose to regulate Internet access as an information service to be settled law. And, for the second time in five years, the D.C. Circuit in Verizon v. FCC struck down the jurisdictional theory relied upon by the FCC in creating its Open Internet rules because the FCC still classified Internet connections as information rather than telecommunications services. In response, and after a vigorous public debate, the FCC recently reversed its classification and grounded …
Transformative Use And The Right Of Publicity: A Relationship Ready For Revision, Justin L. Rand
Transformative Use And The Right Of Publicity: A Relationship Ready For Revision, Justin L. Rand
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The only consistency in right of publicity jurisprudence has been inconsistency. The right can be defined as the ability to control the commercial use of one's identity, and its scope has varied from state to state and era to era. While aspects of the right of publicity partially overlap with copyright and trademark, its historical origins and underlying policy justifications are distinct. Indeed, understanding the unique position of the right has become increasingly important in the digital revolution, where celebrities are vigorously fighting to protect their identities from outside, commercial exploitation. Yet, in their efforts to monetize their names, images, …
Proxy.Gov: A Proposal To Modernize Shareholder Lists And Simplify Shareholder Communications, Kevin Kearney
Proxy.Gov: A Proposal To Modernize Shareholder Lists And Simplify Shareholder Communications, Kevin Kearney
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The SEC is conducting a comprehensive reevaluation of the U.S. corporate proxy system. One issue under the SEC's microscope is public companies' inability to communicate directly with shareholders. When stock trading migrated to the depository system, securities intermediaries undertook the book-entry settlement function. As a result, a public company issuer today cannot identify who holds the right to vote its shares without going through intermediary proxy service providers. Public companies thus communicate with shareholders through a proxy system that is indirect, inefficient, and expensive. Commentators, including issuers, believe that recent developments in the corporate governance landscape require a system that …
“Fair Compensation” In The Digital Age: Realigning The Audio Home Recording Act, Monica Zhang
“Fair Compensation” In The Digital Age: Realigning The Audio Home Recording Act, Monica Zhang
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This note examines how the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 falls short of providing “fair compensation” due to copyright owners in the digital age under the Copyright Act. The note focuses on the narrow language of the statute and the impact on royalties generated, as well as the shifts in global music consumption that reveal a pressing need for expansion. By examining how Canada and Finland have enacted similar statutes with forward-looking royalty structures, this note suggests better alternatives to our current model by expanding the royalty-bearing pool to truly provide “fair compensation” to recording artists and record labels …
Political Broadcasting Fairness In The Twenty-First Century: Putting Candidates And The Public On Equal First Amendment Footing, Mark R. Arbuckle
Political Broadcasting Fairness In The Twenty-First Century: Putting Candidates And The Public On Equal First Amendment Footing, Mark R. Arbuckle
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
There is a fundamental inconsistency in the current political fairness and access rules for U.S. broadcasting. While political candidates enjoy a long-standing right of access to broadcast stations to express their views and attack and answer attacks from opponents, stations have no obligation to be fair to noncandidate citizens who may be personally attacked, nor to make any good-faith effort to present opposing views on controversial public issues. However, this has not always been the case. Under the Fairness Doctrine, in place from 1949 to 1987, broadcasters were expected to present controversial issues of public importance and provide reasonable opportunity …
Lost In Translation: The Obstacles Of Streaming Digital Media And The Future Of Transnational Licensing, Jasmine A. Braxton
Lost In Translation: The Obstacles Of Streaming Digital Media And The Future Of Transnational Licensing, Jasmine A. Braxton
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This note examines the possibility of a unified transnational licensing system for digital streaming services. The note reviews the development of current streaming services and their individual struggles with domestic copyright law as a barrier to entry to new markets. The note draws a connection between the rise of streaming services and the reduction in piracy in certain regional markets. Finally, the note analyzes previous approaches to multinational licensing and uses these current streaming services in case studies to exemplify how successful a global licensing syndicate would be.
Copyright And Choreography: The Negative Costs Of The Current Framework For Licensing Choreography And A Proposal For An Alternative Licensing Model, Matt Kovac
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Although approaches rooted in copyright law are available, choreographers tend to rely instead on contract law in order to control distribution of their work; choreographers license their ballets to dance companies via contracts which are typically negotiated on an ad hoc basis. This relatively conservative approach allows choreographers to maintain tight artistic control over subsequent reproductions of their ballets, but it comes at a cost to both the dance community and the general public. This conservative approach to distribution means that a choreographic work may be performed infrequently or not at all, and it also forecloses the possibility for transformative …
Blurred Lines - Where Copyright Ends And Cultural Appropriation Begins - The Case Of Robin Thicke Versus Bridgeport Music And The Estate Of Marvin Gaye, Toni Lester
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Were Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams perpetuating perceptions of misappropriation when they filed their declaratory judgment claim against the estate of Marvin Gaye? Or were they legitimately contributing to the evolving genre of R&B and soul music originated by black greats like Gaye and others? This article will answer these questions by first exploring the extent to which the song "Blurred Lines" constitutes illegal copyright infringement of "Gotta Give It Up" under the U.S. Copyright Act and traditional judicial interpretations thereof. It will then make some predictions about the outcome of the declaratory judgment claim currently under consideration in California.
Pinterest's Secondary Liability: The Dmca Implications Of Holding Pinterest Responsible And What Pinterest Can Do To Avoid Liability, Monica Yun
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This note explores Pinterest's possible liabilities for copyright infringement and what it can possibly do to shield itself from prosecution. Part II will address the basics of Pinterest and how it relates to other social media and online service providers. Part III will delve into the legal background of the Copyright Act of 1976, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, secondary liability, the fair use defense, and legislation that has already been proposed to address this issue. Part IV will analyze Pinterest's indirect liability and how it may use the fair use defense. And finally, Part V will propose …
Celebrity Politicians And Publicity Rights In The Age Of Obama, Michael G. Bennett
Celebrity Politicians And Publicity Rights In The Age Of Obama, Michael G. Bennett
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The right of publicity is a relatively marginalized yet increasingly radical form of intellectual property. Typically, celebrities use it to prevent freeloaders from profiting on their fame by making unauthorized use of their image, likeness or signature to make goods or services more attractive to consumers. The right of publicity allows famous individuals to stop this type of behavior by providing a property right in identity or persona. Brandished by celebrities who are also political figures, though, the doctrine can become a powerful means of chilling political speech, and therefore a direct threat to First Amendment free speech rights. The …
Says Who?: The Futility Of Authenticating Art In The Courtroom, Valerie Medelyan
Says Who?: The Futility Of Authenticating Art In The Courtroom, Valerie Medelyan
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
In a 1993 case involving the authenticity of a mobile by sculptor Alexander Calder, Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer bitterly conceded that if a prominent art expert testified that a work was a forgery, it would become so in the eyes of the market and its value would be destroyed. However, the judge went on to say, "this is not the market, but a court of law, in which the trier of fact must make a decision based upon a preponderance of the evidence." While acknowledging that the opinion of the more respected expert (that the Calder mobile was a fake) …
Regulating The Unregulable: Finding The Proper Scope For Legislation To Combat Copyright Infringement On The Internet, Melis Atalay
Regulating The Unregulable: Finding The Proper Scope For Legislation To Combat Copyright Infringement On The Internet, Melis Atalay
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This note seeks to critically evaluate the current trend of copyright legislation, and use the response for legislation to hypothesize what sort copyright legislation for the Internet may be successful in the future. The SOPA/PIPA legacy provides evidence for today's legislature that broad reforms will not work. Indeed the reigning in seen in OPEN was a reflection of SOPA/PIPA progeny being responsive to public outcry over SOPA/PIPA. I conclude that OPEN would have been an appropriate balance of constriction and Internet availability. If passed, OPEN would have been a step in the right direction to combat the illegal access and …
A Possibility Of The Korean Wave Renaissance Construction Through K-Pop: Sustainable Development Of The Korean Wave As A Cultural Industry, Yeojin Kim
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
In the era of the "digital road," Korean popular music ("K-Pop") has disseminated into every part of the world. In fact, South America, the farthest continent from Korea, goes wild for K-Pop, and the craze moves on to other continents naturally. Without Koreans having to recommend K-Pop, if listeners of K-Pop around the world believe that K-Pop has some charm, they absorb the trend and pass the music on to others. It has now come to the point where government agencies, the press, and entertainment management companies do not need to promote K-Pop because foreigners are consuming K-Pop feverishly on …
Rereading A Canonical Copyright Case: The Nonexistent Right To Hoard In Fox Film Corp. V. Doyal, Shane D. Valenzi
Rereading A Canonical Copyright Case: The Nonexistent Right To Hoard In Fox Film Corp. V. Doyal, Shane D. Valenzi
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Do copyright owners have the right to hoard their creative works? The right to exclude on an individual basis is the keystone of copyright law, yet using copyright protection to prevent all public access to a work runs counter to the very premises upon which copyright law is based. This right to exclude the world from use of a creative work-referred to as the right to "hoard" by Justice O'Connor in Stewart v. Abend, is commonly traced to a Lochner-era tax case: Fox Film Corp. v. Doyal. This article examines the right to hoard and its origins in Fox Film, …