Law Commons^™

Debunking Intellectual Property Myths: Cross Cultural Experiments On Perceptions Of Property, Gregory N. Mandel, Kristina R. Olson, Anne A. Fast

BYU Law Review

For decades, the prevailing view in the United States and many Western countries has been that China does not appropriately respect intellectual property rights. These beliefs lie at the heart of President Donald Trump’s current trade war with China. Despite substantial geopolitical debate over differences between American an d Chinese attitudes towards intellectual property rights, and despite the critical effects that such attitudes have on international economic markets and the function of intellectual property systems, empirical evidence of these attitudes is largely lacking. This Article presents original experimental survey research that explores cross cross-cultural differences between American and Chinese attitudes …

Fan Films And Fanworks In The Age Of Social Media: How Copyright Owners Are Relying On Private Ordering To Avoid Angering Fans, Kagen Despain

BYU Law Review

Fandoms active in creating “fanworks” are increasingly able to leverage social media to coordinate and respond to owners of large media franchises who attempt to limit the creation and distribution of fan films. The resulting friction between these groups can be more efficiently addressed through private ordering rather than through formal legal reform.

Owning Nothingness: Between The Legal And The Social Norms Of The Art World, Guy A. Rub

BYU Law Review

Almost $8 million—that is what the Crystal Bridges Museum paid for one work of contemporary art in November 2015. What did that museum get for that hefty sum? From a legal perspective, absolutely nothing. The work it purchased was just an idea, and ideas of this kind escape legal protection.

Despite this lack of legal protection, the social norms of the art world lead large, sophisticated, experienced, and legally represented institutes to pay millions of dollars for this type of work. This Article is one of the first in legal scholarship to examine at depth those norms in this multibilliondollar …

Copyright’S Memory Hole, Eric Goldman, Jessica Silbey

BYU Law Review

There is growing interest in using copyright to protect the privacy and reputation of people depicted in copyrighted works. This pressure is driven by heightened concerns about privacy and reputation on the Internet, plus copyright’s plaintiff-favorable attributes compared to traditional privacy and reputation torts.

The Constitution authorizes copyright law because its exclusive rights benefit society by increasing our knowledge. But copyright law is being misdeployed by suppressing socially valuable works in a counterproductive attempt to advance privacy and reputation interests. This results in “memory holes” in society’s knowledge, analogous to those discussed in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.

This Article …

A Shenanigan In Ipr Denials, Jordan Brimley

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.