Law Commons^™

Copyright's Topography: An Empirical Study Of Copyright Litigation, Christopher A. Cotropia, James Gibson

Law Faculty Publications

One of the most important ways to measure the impact of copyright law is through empirical examination of actual copyright infringement cases. Yet scholars have universally overlooked this rich source of data. This study fills that gap through a comprehensive empirical analysis of copyright infringement litigation, examining the pleadings, motions, and dockets from more than nine hundred copyright lawsuits filed from 2005 through 2008. The data we collect allow us to examine a wide variety of copyright issues, such as the rate of settlements versus judgments; the incidence of litigation between major media companies, small firms, and individuals; the kinds …

Reproduction, Distribution, And "Making Available", James Gibson

Law Faculty Publications

When an individual makes a music or movie file available for downloading by others, without the permission of the copyright owner, is that an infringing act? Or does infringement take place only when the file is actually downloaded?

This thorny copyright issue is at the heart of much of the controversy over file-sharing. It’s relatively simple for a copyright owner to prove that a file has been made available for download, but it’s much harder to prove that a download has actually occurred. So if liability attaches to the mere act of “making available,” record labels and movie studios will …

How Dewey Classify Oclc's Lawsuit, Roger V. Skalbeck

Law Faculty Publications

In order to understand the nature of the rights asserted here, it is important to properly classify the Dewey Decimal lawsuit. To these ends, this article presents analysis aimed to better define its scope and legal framework. This is not an analysis of the merits of the claims, let alone a prediction as to the outcome. The issues are considered in the following three sections. In closing, I offer a lighthearted suggestion as to how this suit might be resolved outside of litigation or settlement.