Law Commons^™

"You'll Lol @ This Tweet": Copyright Protection For Hashtag Gamers, Alan Lacerra

Florida State University Law Review

Hashtag games combine the fun of quick, incongruous exchanges with the work of creative expression and do so online through microblogging, predominantly (if not exclusively) on Twitter. Currently, hashtag-game participants face two main obstacles to copyright protection for their fun expressions: the expressions' brevity and Twitter's terms of service. To protect the copyrights that Internet users acquire by participating in hashtag games, courts should focus on the creativity rather than the brevity of the resulting expressions. Furthermore, Congress should amend the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to prevent Internet service providers, like Twitter, from encroaching on users' rights through broad …

Innovation And Reverse Payments, Ramsi A. Woodcock

Florida State University Law Review

Settlements of patent litigation between branded and generic drug makers that include a promise by the generic maker to stay out of the market, sometimes in exchange for a ‘reverse’ payment, increase the profits of drug makers at the expense of consumers. Some commentators argue that drug makers will invest these profits in innovation, ultimately making consumers better off. Drug market data suggest, however, that the resulting gains to consumers may still be insufficient to offset consumer losses from delayed access to generics. Even when innovation is taken into account, antitrust can most efficiently eliminate the risk of consumer harm …

Through The Lens Of Innovation, Mirit Eyal-Cohen

Florida State University Law Review

The legal system constantly follows the footsteps of innovation and attempts to discourage its migration overseas. Yet, present legal rules that inform and explain entrepreneurial circumstances lack a core understanding of the concept of entrepreneurship. By its nature, law imposes order. It provides rules, remedies, and classifications that direct behavior in a consistent manner. Entrepreneurship turns on the contrary. It entails making creative judgments about the unknown. It involves adapting to disarray. It thrives on deviation as opposed to traditional causation. This Article argues that these differences matter. It demonstrates that current laws lock entrepreneurs into inefficient legal routes. Through …

The Medical Liability Exemption: A Path To Affordable Pharmaceuticals, Carrie E. Rosato

Florida State University Law Review

Patent monopolies are tolerated because we believe they promote progress that benefits society. What should be done when these monopolies actually increase human suffering? Drug prices in America are fifty to eighty percent higher than the rest of the world, meaning many cannot afford drugs that will improve or even save their lives. When striking a balance between the interests of the patent holder and that of the public, it is important to bear in mind that the rewards granted to patentees are secondary to the public benefit derived from their labors. The ideal solution would come from Congress creating …

Work Made For Hire -- Analyzing The Multifactor Balancing Test, Ryan Vacca

Florida State University Law Review

Authorship of copyrighted works is oftentimes controlled by the 1976 Copyright Act’s work made for hire doctrine. This doctrine states that works created by employees within the scope of their employment result in the employer, not the employee, being the author and initial copyright owner. One key determination in this analysis is whether the hired party is an employee or independent contractor. In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court, in CCNV v. Reid, set forth a list of factors to distinguish employees from independent contractors. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not give further guidance on how to balance these factors. …

Copyright's Mercantilist Turn, Glynn S. Lunney, Jr.

Florida State University Law Review

Over the last twenty years, arguments for broader copyright have taken an increasingly mercantilist turn. Unable to establish that broader copyright will lead to more or better original works, as the Constitution and the traditional economic framework require, proponents have begun arguing for broader copyright on the basis of revenue and jobs. Rampant unauthorized copying is theft or piracy, proponents insist, depriving copyright owners of revenue and destroying jobs. Whether or not it leads to more or better works, broader copyright will increase revenue to copyright owners and thus increase employment in the copyright industries. This increased employment, on its …

Aggregating Defendants, Greg Reilly

Florida State University Law Review

No procedural topic has garnered more attention in the past fifty years than the class action and aggregation of plaintiffs. Yet, almost nothing has been written about aggregating defendants. This topic is of increasing importance. Recent efforts by patent “trolls” and Bit-Torrent copyright plaintiffs to aggregate unrelated defendants for similar but independent acts of infringement have provoked strong opposition from defendants, courts, and even Congress. The visceral resistance to defendant aggregation is puzzling. The aggregation of similarly situated plaintiffs is seen as creating benefits for both plaintiffs and the judicial system. The benefits that justify plaintiff aggregation also seem to …

Making Room For Cooperative Innovation, Liza S. Vertinsky

Florida State University Law Review

Patent law, created in response to a constitutional mandate to encourage innovation, may be discouraging important forms of cooperative innovation. Advances in technology have enabled new ways of pooling knowledge and computational capabilities, facilitating cooperation among many participants with complementary skills and motivations to collectively solve complex problems. But emerging models of cooperative innovation increasingly run into patent roadblocks.

Why might patent law sometimes thwart instead of support socially beneficial cooperative innovation? The problem lies in the tensions between the market-based incentives that patent law creates and the mechanisms that support emerging models of cooperative innovation. The complexity and cost …

Richard Lillich Memorial Lecture: Nurturing A Transnational System Of Innovation, Jerome H. Reichman

Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

How Federal Circuit Judges Vote In Patent Validity Cases, John R. Allison, Mark A. Lemley

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

China's Copyright Law And The Trips Agreement, Reiko R. Feaver

Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The North American Free Trade Agreement & Protection Of Intellectual Property: A Converging View, Lori M. Berg

Florida State University Journal of Transnational Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Public Records Act: Should Trade Secrets Remain In The Sunshine?, Patricia E. Chamberlain

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

What's The Big Idea Behind The Idea-Expression Dichotomy? -- Modern Ramifications Of The Tree Of Porphyry In Copyright Law, Amaury Cruz

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The "Arising Under" Jurisdiction Of The Federal Circuit: An Opportunity For Uniformity In Patent Law, Emmette F. Hale, Iii

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Diamond V. Diehr, 101 S. Ct. 1048 (1981), Paul D. Jess

Florida State University Law Review

Patent Law-PROCESS PATENTS-SUBJECT MATTER PATENTABILITY-A PATENT CLAIM BASED PRIMARILY ON A COMPUTER PROGRAM CAN COMPRISE PATENTABLE SUBJECT MATTER

Goldstein V. California, 412 U.S. 546 (1973), Florida State University Law Review

Florida State University Law Review

Copyright-SOUND RECORDINGS-CALIFORNIA STATUTE PROHIBITING MUSIC PIRACY IS A VALID EXERCISE OF RETAINED STATE POWERS AND DOES NOT CONFLICT WITH FEDERAL COPYRIGHT PROTECTION.