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Intellectual Property Law

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Intellectual Property

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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Enigma Of Photography, Depiction, And Copyright Originality, Terry S. Kogan Jun 2015

The Enigma Of Photography, Depiction, And Copyright Originality, Terry S. Kogan

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Photography is an enigma. The features that distinguish it most from other art forms — the camera’s automatism and the photograph’s verisimilitude — have throughout its history also provided the basis for critics to claim that a photographer is not an artist nor the photograph a work of art. Because every photograph is the product of an automatic, mechanical device, critics argue that a photographer is a mere technician relegated to clicking a shutter button. Moreover, because every photograph displays an exact likeness of whatever happened to be sitting before the camera, critics consider that image to be a factual …


The Anti-Economy Of Fashion; An Openwork Approach To Intellectual Property Protection, Amy L. Landers Jan 2014

The Anti-Economy Of Fashion; An Openwork Approach To Intellectual Property Protection, Amy L. Landers

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Fashion’s cultural connections provide the groundwork for a theory to resolve the critical questions of protection for works that draw strongly on exogenous inputs. This article proposes that narrow protection for fashion is both economically justified, theoretically sound, and beneficial to the field because it facilitates spillovers in a manner that allows others to create the endless variations that are the lifeblood of this vibrant industry. Such protection relies on a theory of openworks, which applies to designs that have a high level of input from outside of the creator’s realm of activity. In fashion, inspiration that derives from the …


Design Law In The United States As Compared To The European Community Design System: What Do We Need To Fix?, Tiffany Mahmood Jan 2014

Design Law In The United States As Compared To The European Community Design System: What Do We Need To Fix?, Tiffany Mahmood

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Now in their tenth year, European community designs were created to enhance harmonization in design protection across the Member States of the European Union (“EU”). The United States (“US”), in contrast, has only once expanded its protection for designs during that time, namely for vessel designs. Pushes have been made for further sui generis protection for Fashion law, but it is unclear why the US has not adopted a system similar to that of Europe, particularly taking into consideration the general uniformity between the two regions’ systems in other intellectual property areas. This Note looks to answer that question by …


Reexamining Two Pesos, Qualitex, & Wal-Mart: A Different Approach…Or Perhaps Just Old Abercrombie Wine In A New Bottle?, Russ Versteeg May 2013

Reexamining Two Pesos, Qualitex, & Wal-Mart: A Different Approach…Or Perhaps Just Old Abercrombie Wine In A New Bottle?, Russ Versteeg

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

In Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Bros., Inc., 529 U.S. 205 (2000), the United States Supreme Court held that, in order for a product design to be protectable under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act, the product design must first acquire a secondary meaning. Writing for the Court, Justice Scalia, reasoned that consumers, as a rule, do not expect a product’s design to serve as an indicator of source. The Court stated that product designs, like colors, do not ordinarily operate as source indicators, and that is why the Court established its rule that a product design must acquire a …


The Incompatibility Of Droit De Suite With Common Law Theories Of Copyright, Alexander Bussey Apr 2013

The Incompatibility Of Droit De Suite With Common Law Theories Of Copyright, Alexander Bussey

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Although proponents have recently been attempting to strengthen droit de suite, or artists' resale royalty rights, throughout the world, all laws based on the right are flawed — so much so that further implementation would have almost none of the positive effects that its sponsors hope for. This is to say that droit de suite, which is meant to protect young artists, actually discourages the creation of art by young artists, and reduces the amount of money an artist can make from a sale. Furthermore, droit de suite conflicts with basic common law notions of copyright and property and is …