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First Amendment Interests And Copyright Accommodations, David S. Olson
First Amendment Interests And Copyright Accommodations, David S. Olson
David S. Olson
Copyright law exists to encourage the creation of works of authorship by granting exclusive rights. But copyright’s incentive function seems in tension with the public’s First Amendment interests to use and freely hear copyrighted speech. Conventional wisdom holds, however, that copyright law serves to encourage much more speech than it discourages, and resolves First Amendment concerns with protections internal to copyright law like the fair use defense and the idea/expression dichotomy. This Article argues that the conventional wisdom no longer holds given the unprecedented expansion of copyright’s scope and cor-responding drastic diminution of the public domain in the last three …
First Amendment Based Copyright Misuse, David S. Olson
First Amendment Based Copyright Misuse, David S. Olson
David S. Olson
We are at a crossroads with respect to the underdeveloped equitable defense of copyright misuse. The defense may go the way of its sibling, antitrust-based patent misuse, which seems to be in a state of inevitable decline. Or—if judges accept the proposal of this Article—courts could reinvigorate the copyright misuse defense to better protect First Amendment speech that is guaranteed by statute, but that is often chilled by copyright holders misusing their copyrights to control others’ speech. The Copyright Act serves First Amendment interests by encouraging authors to create works. But copyright law can also discourage the creation of new …
A Legitimate Interest In Promoting The Progress Of Science: Constitutional Constraints On Copyright Laws, David S. Olson
A Legitimate Interest In Promoting The Progress Of Science: Constitutional Constraints On Copyright Laws, David S. Olson
David S. Olson
The Supreme Court certified two questions in Golan v. Holder: (1) Does section 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (“URAA”) violate the Progress Clause of the Constitution? (2) Does the URAA violate the First Amendment? This Essay argues that section 514 violates the Progress Clause’s requirement that copyright laws “promote the Progress of Science.” This is because the statute bequeaths copyright status without in return achieving any net increase in the creation or dissemination of creative works. Even if the Government relies on other constitutional authorities to justify section 514—such as the Commerce Clause or the Treaty Power—the limitations …
First Amendment Interests And Copyright Accomodations, David S. Olson
First Amendment Interests And Copyright Accomodations, David S. Olson
David S. Olson
Copyright law exists to encourage the creation of works of authorship by granting exclusive rights. But copyright’s incentive function seems in tension with the public’s First Amendment interests to use and freely hear copyrighted speech. Conventional wisdom holds, however, that copyright law serves to encourage much more speech than it discourages, and resolves First Amendment concerns with protections internal to copyright law like the fair use defense and the idea/expression dichotomy. This Article argues that the conventional wisdom no longer holds given the unprecedented expansion of copyright’s scope and corresponding drastic diminution of the public domain in the last three …