Law Commons^™

Copyright Law: Cases And Materials, Marshall A. Leaffer

Vanderbilt Law Review

Interest in copyright law is on the upswing. The reason is simple: copyright law, and more generally, intellectual property law, is the law for the information age. The subject touches not only the traditional concerns of artists, writers, and musicians, but also reaches the cable television and computer industries as well as future technologies not yet thought of. I predict course offerings on copyright and intellectual property law will proliferate. Before publication of Craig Joyce's Copyright Law, the growing market for copyright casebooks was already well served by three excellent and diverse works' that would satisfy all tastes and approaches …

Free Speech, Copyright, And Fair Use, L. Ray Patterson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The copyright clause provides that "[the Congress shall have Power... To promote the Progress of Science. ..by securing for limited Times to Authors .. .the exclusive Right to their . . .writings ...."I The first amendment provides that "Congress shall make no law. . .abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ."..."

Three modern developments portend a conflict between these two clauses of the Constitution: (1) the emergence of the doctrine that free speech encompasses the right to have access to, as well as the right to disseminate, ideas; (2) the elimination of the requirement of publication, which …

Copyright Infringement And The Eleventh Amendment: A Doctrine Of Unfair Use?, John C. Beiter

Vanderbilt Law Review

The federal courts recently have renewed the debate concerning whether a person can sue a state government or its instrumentalities for copyright infringement. The question presents a clash of fundamental constitutional principles between the copyright and patent clause,' whose purpose is to promote the free flow of ideas by rewarding creativity,' and the eleventh amendment,whose primary purpose is to protect the federal form of government by insulating states from suit in federal court. The Copyright Act of 1976 (the 1976 Act) and its predecessor, the Copyright Act of 1909 (the 1909 Act), grant copyright proprietors"exclusive" rights in their works. While …