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Full-Text Articles in Law
A State Law Approach To Preserving Fair Use In Academic Libraries, David R. Hansen
A State Law Approach To Preserving Fair Use In Academic Libraries, David R. Hansen
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
Every year academic libraries spend millions of dollars to provide their users access to copyrighted works. Much of that money goes not toward purchasing physical copies of books or journals, but toward licensing electronic content from publishers. In those electronic license agreements, the default rules for how users interact with copyrighted content is often altered, and academic library users are deprived of basic rights — especially rights such as fair use — which are granted under federal copyright law. The literature is flush with discussion of the misuse of private contracts to alter the rights granted by Congress in copyright’s …
Using Public Disclosure As The Vesting Point For Moral Rights Under The Visual Artists Rights Act, Elizabeth M. Bock
Using Public Disclosure As The Vesting Point For Moral Rights Under The Visual Artists Rights Act, Elizabeth M. Bock
Michigan Law Review
In 2010, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit confronted the novel question of when moral rights protections vest under the Visual Artists Rights Act. In Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation, Inc. v. Bichel, the First Circuit determined that the protections of the Visual Artists Rights Act begin when a work is "created" under the Copyright Act. This Note argues that this decision harms moral rights conceptually and is likely to result in unpredictable and inconsistent decisions. This Note proposes instead that these statutory protections should vest when an artist determines that his work is complete and presents …
Toward A Trips Truce, Patricia L. Judd
Toward A Trips Truce, Patricia L. Judd
Michigan Journal of International Law
The World Trade Organization's (WTO's) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS or Agreement), now over fifteen years old, regulates a marketplace characterized by extraordinary dynamism, influenced by the constant forces of globalization and technological evolution. Attempts to regulate this market raise natural, persistent questions concerning the Agreement's ability to serve its respective constituencies and adapt to change. The Agreement operates in the midst of an age-old dynamic pitting developing and developed countries against one another, especially when it comes to domestic enforcement against piracy and counterfeiting-a dynamic in which TRIPS has been criticized as a one-sided instrument. …
Protection For Informational Works After Feist Publications, Inc. V. Rural Telephone Service Co., Miriam Bitton
Protection For Informational Works After Feist Publications, Inc. V. Rural Telephone Service Co., Miriam Bitton
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Moral Rights And Supernatural Fiction: Authorial Dignity And The New Moral Rights Agendas, Jacqueline D. Lipton Ph.D.
Moral Rights And Supernatural Fiction: Authorial Dignity And The New Moral Rights Agendas, Jacqueline D. Lipton Ph.D.
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
In recent years, several scholars have revisited the question of moral rights protections for creators of copyright works in the United States. Their scholarship has focused on defining a moral rights agenda that comports with American constitutional values, as well as being practically suited to current copyright business practices. Much of this scholarship has prioritized a right of attribution over other moral rights, such as the right of integrity. This Article evaluates some of these recent moral rights models in light of a sample of comments made by American supernatural fiction authors about their works. The Author questions whether the …
Technical Knockout: How Mixed Martial Arts Will Change Copyright Enforcement On The Web, Keith Black
Technical Knockout: How Mixed Martial Arts Will Change Copyright Enforcement On The Web, Keith Black
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Innovative Copyright, Greg Lastowka
Innovative Copyright, Greg Lastowka
Michigan Law Review
For over a decade, Michael Carrier has been exploring the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property ("IP") law, contributing many articles that offer new solutions and approaches to the vexing problems confronting the law of innovation. Carrier's academic writing is situated in a voluminous scholarly discourse about the appropriate rules and goals of the laws of copyright, patent, and antitrust. While Carrier easily could have written an "insider" tome for specialists in this area, his new book, Innovation for the 21st Century, is targeted at a broader audience. Carrier's book is directed at legislators, jurists, and opinion makers-as well as …
Databases And Dynamism, Michal Shur-Ofry
Databases And Dynamism, Michal Shur-Ofry
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Databases are generally perceived in legal scholarship as static warehouses, storing up valuable facts and information. Accordingly, scholarship on copyright protection of databases typically concentrates on the social need to access their content. This Article seeks to shift the focus of the debate, arguing that the copyrightdatabases debate is not merely a static "access to information" story. Instead, it is a dynamic story of relations, hierarchies, and interactions between pieces of information, determined by database creators. It is also a story of patterns, categories, selections, and taxonomies that are often invisible to the naked eye, but that influence our perceptions …
Making Virtual Copyright Work, Matthew R. Farley
Making Virtual Copyright Work, Matthew R. Farley
Golden Gate University Law Review
This Article proposes measures that attempt to strike the balance between creation and access. The virtual-world community is not likely to persevere with the little copyright protection it currently enjoys. Creativity will dwindle and the rich, energetic settings that make virtual worlds so attractive to businesses and entertainers will follow suit. At the same time, because much of the creativity in virtual worlds is derivative in nature, virtual creators are also unlikely to benefit from strong copyright protections. Therefore, current interpretation of copyright law must be revisited and revised before applying it to virtual worlds. Part I details virtual worlds …
The Endowment Effect In Ip Transactions: The Case Against Debiasing, Ofer Tur-Sinai
The Endowment Effect In Ip Transactions: The Case Against Debiasing, Ofer Tur-Sinai
Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review
This Article contains a critical discussion of recent studies by Christopher Buccafusco and Christopher Sprigman concerning the role of the endowment effect in intellectual property transactions. According to the thesis presented in these studies, the existence of an endowment effect in the markets for IP goods causes inefficiencies. In order to counteract such inefficiencies, the authors argue, IP rights must be weakened in various ways, including shifting toward liability rules, adding formalities in copyright law, and expanding the fair use doctrine. The thesis as presented is groundbreaking and would have broad implications. This Article, however, points out several shortcomings of …
Hatch-Waxmanizing Copyright, Michal Shur-Ofry
Hatch-Waxmanizing Copyright, Michal Shur-Ofry
Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review
This Essay presents a novel proposal for counter balancing "copyright overspills." In the background of the discussion is the common reality of users succumbing to rights holders' attempts to license uses which are most likely fair uses or completely free of copyright protection. These practices have attracted considerable attention in recent literature. Most scholarly proposals in this context emphasize the need to clarify the contours of the fair use doctrine and to remove doctrinal ambiguities. Yet these initiatives are probably insufficient to overcome users' risk aversion in copyright markets due to an inherent structural imbalance within copyright law. While the …
Paper Tigers: Rethinking The Relationship Between Copyright And Scholarly Publishing, Alissa Centivany
Paper Tigers: Rethinking The Relationship Between Copyright And Scholarly Publishing, Alissa Centivany
Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review
Discontent is growing in academia over the practices of the proprietary scholarly publishing industry. Scholars and universities criticize the expensive subscription fees, restrictive access policies, and copyright assignment requirements of many journals. These practices seem fundamentally unfair given that the industries' two main inputs-articles and peer-review-are provided to it free of charge. Furthermore, while many publishers continue to enjoy substantial profit margins, many elite university libraries have been forced to triage their collections, choosing between purchasing monographs or subscribing to journals, or in some cases, doing away with "non-essential" materials altogether. The situation is even more dire for non-elite schools, …
The Kindle Controversy: An Economic Analysis Of How The Amazon Kindle's Text-To-Speech Feature Violates Copyright Law, Jeremy B. Francis
The Kindle Controversy: An Economic Analysis Of How The Amazon Kindle's Text-To-Speech Feature Violates Copyright Law, Jeremy B. Francis
Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law
In 2009, Amazon released the Kindle 2 with a text-to-speech feature. This feature allows users of the Kindle 2 to download software to the device that will read e-books aloud. Authors and publishers of e-books immediately objected to the feature, arguing that it essentially created an unauthorized audiobook. Amazon maintained the legality of the text-to-speech feature, arguing that it does not copy, perform, or create a derivative work. Amazon decided to avoid a legal battle by allowing rightsholders to decide whether to enable the text-to-speech feature for each individual title. The copyright community, however, responded swiftly and nearly unanimously, siding …
Information Wars And The Challenges Of Content Protection In Digital Contexts, Raymond T. Nimmer
Information Wars And The Challenges Of Content Protection In Digital Contexts, Raymond T. Nimmer
Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law
We are in the midst of a fundamental conflict in law and policy between those who favor maintaining and expanding copyright and related rights in the digital context ("rights enhancers"), and those who favor letting rights atrophy ("rights restrictors'). This Article argues that strong intellectual property rights are essential. At minimum, they are important to support creativity in contexts where the creation, collection, or distribution of the content requires substantial investment of time and resources. The case for allowing creators' rights to weaken is both untested and structurally suspect. Copyright law must construct a balance that fully supports creative activity …
A Hot Mess: How Hot-News Misappropriation Bypassed Copyright Law In Barclays V. Theflyonthewall.Com And Gave Originators A Propriety Right In Facts, Julya E. Vekstein
A Hot Mess: How Hot-News Misappropriation Bypassed Copyright Law In Barclays V. Theflyonthewall.Com And Gave Originators A Propriety Right In Facts, Julya E. Vekstein
Catholic University Law Review
No abstract provided.