Law Commons^™

Trouble In Transamerica: Deferred Compensation, Contingent Debt, And Overstated Basis, Mary Lafrance

Scholarly Works

For many years, owners of motion pictures and television films have optimized the tax benefits of depreciation deductions by employing a broad concept of basis. In addition to their cash investment, these taxpayers have increased their basis to reflect both fixed and contingent liabilities incurred in creating or acquiring these assets. Some of these liabilities represent royalties for the use of intellectual property such as music and literary works incorporated in the film. Others constitute deferred compensation for the services performed by producers, directors, actors, musicians, and others during the production process. The fixed liabilities do not depend on the …

The Evolution Of Free Trade In The Americas: Nafta Case Studies, Claudio Grossman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Norms And Property In The Middle Kingdom, Glenn R. Butterton

Articles

No abstract provided.

A Right To Read Anonymously: A Closer Look At "Copyright Management" In Cyberspace, Julie E. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

It has become commonplace to say that we have entered the age of information. The words conjure up images of a reader’s paradise—an era of limitless access to information resources and unlimited interpersonal communication. In truth, however, the new information age is turning out to be as much an age of information about readers as an age of information for readers. The same technologies that have made vast amounts of information accessible in digital form are enabling information providers to amass an unprecedented wealth of data about who their customers are and what they like to read. In the new …

Remembering Melville Nimmer: Some Cautionary Notes On Commercial Speech, William W. Van Alstyne

Faculty Scholarship

This examination concerns itself with two main questions: what qualifies as commercial speech and how much protection does commercial speech enjoy under the First Amendment when compared to other forms of speech. The trend of the Court indicates that commercial speech enjoys protections similar to political speech.

Intellectual Property Policy Online: A Young Person’S Guide, James Boyle

Faculty Scholarship

This is an edited version of a presentation to the "Intellectual Property Online" panel at the Harvard Conference on the Internet and Society, May 28-31, 1996. The panel was a reminder of both the importance of intellectual property and the dangers of legal insularity. Of approximately 400 panel attendees, 90% were not lawyers. Accordingly, the remarks that follow are an attempt to lay out the basics of intellectual property policy in a straighforward and non-technical manner. In other words, this is what non-lawyers should know (and what a number of government lawyers seem to have forgotten) about intellectual property policy …

From Free Riders To Fair Followers: Global Competition Under The Trips Agreement, Jerome H. Reichman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

International Copyright: An Unorthodox Analysis American Association Of Law Schools' Intellectual Property Section's Symposium On Compliance With The Trips Agreement, Hugh C. Hansen

Faculty Scholarship

Professor Hansen reviews the development of copyright from its traditional domestic orientation to the modern emphasis on globalization and harmonization. His commentary analogizes modem trends in international copyright to religious equivalents. He notes that the current players include a "secular priesthood" (the traditional copyright bar and academics), "agnostics and atheists" (newer academics and lawyers, particularly those concerned with technology and the culture of the public domain) and "missionaries" (whose task it is to increase copyright protection around the world and who are primarily driven by trade considerations). The copyright "crusade" has been driven by this last group. The author compares …

The Ancient Doctrine Of Trespass To Web Sites, I. Trotter Hardy

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Welcoming Remarks And Statement Of The Issues, Fred H. Cate

Federal Communications Law Journal

The creation, manipulation, transmission, storage, and use of information constitute the United States' and the world's largest economic sector, affecting almost every aspect of business, education, government, and entertainment. The convener of From Conduit to Content: The Emergence of Information Policy and Law introduces The Annenberg Washington Program forum by noting the proliferation of information technologies and services, the diversity of industries and interests affected, and the number of government entities with jurisdiction, that contribute to both the complexity and the importance of information policy making.

From Conduit to Content: The Emergence of Information Policy and Law. The Annenberg Washington …

Raise The Yellow Submarine! Subafilms And Extraterritorial Application Of The Copyright Act, Michael T. Crowley

Federal Communications Law Journal

Protecting United States industry from the costs of overseas pirating is complex without an enforceable bilateral copyright agreement. In fact, the U.S. loses billions of dollars to acts of piracy abroad every year. Yet, the Ninth Circuit destroyed a potential check against overseas piracy in Subafilms, Ltd. v. MGM-Pathe Communs. Co. when it ruled that the U.S. Copyright Act does not prohibit piracy abroad. After a discussion of relevant case law surrounding extraterritorial application of the Copyright Act, the Author of this Note criticizes the Subafilms decision and proposes changes to the current language contained in the Copyright Act.

Panel Two: Information Policy Making, Allen S. Hammond, Bruce W. Mcconnell, Michael Nelson, Janice Obuchowski, Marc Rotenberg, Fred H. Cate

Federal Communications Law Journal

The second panel of From Conduit to Content: The Emergence of Information Policy and Law addresses the government's response to the policy making challenges presented by information. Panelists from the government and academia explore the question: "How has, and how should, the policy-making process respond to the diversity of issues, interests, and policymakers?" Participants include Fred H. Cate, Allen S. Hammond, Bruce W. McConnell, Michael Nelson, Janice Obuchowski, and Marc Rotenbergaddresses the government's response to the policy making challenges presented by information. Panelists from the government and academia explore the question: "How has, and how should, the policy-making process respond …

Panel One: Information Issues: Intellectual Property, Privacy, Integrity, Interoperability, And The Economics Of Information, Anne W. Branscomb, Brian Kahin, Ellen M. Kirsh, P. Michael Nugent, Fred H. Cate

Federal Communications Law Journal

The first panel of From Conduit to Content: The Emergence of Information Policy and Law examines the wide range of legal and regulatory issues presented by information, including intellectual property, privacy, free expression, liability for false or damaging expression, interoperability, international trade, antitrust, and government investment in and provision of information. Participants include Anne W. Branscomb, Fred H. Cate, Brian Kahin, Ellen M. Kirsh, and P. Michael Nugent.

From Conduit to Content: The Emergence of Information Policy and Law. The Annenberg Washington Program. Friday, March 3 1995, Washington, D.C.

The Visual Artists Rights Act Of 1990: American Artists Burned Again, Robert J. Sherman

Cardozo Law Review

This Note explores those sections of VARA which specify the conditions under which a visual artist may waive the protection granted by the 1976 Copyright Act. Specifically, it discusses the waiver provisions which address the most troublesome protected works-works of art that are incorporated into buildings. Part I of this Note explains the evolution of droit moral doctrine in European copyright law, the role it plays in the Berne Convention, and a comparison between its application in Europe and the United States. Part II presents a discussion of the United States accession to the Berne Convention and the hurdles to …

Drug Price Regulation And Compulsory Licensing For Pharmaceutical Patents: The New Zealand Connection, John M. Wechkin

Washington International Law Journal

This Comment addresses effects of the 1992 rescission of compulsory licensing laws for pharmaceutical patents in New Zealand. The Comment summarizes the history behind the change in law, the effect the change has had, projections for future effects, and the degree to which the change brings New Zealand law into compliance with proposed General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs ("GAT") provisions. The effects of the repeal on drug prices appear to be masked by changes in New Zealand's pharmaceutical price support system. Both changes are illustrative of the continuing conflict over technology protection in the marketplace, a conflict which is …

In Pursuit Of Profit Maximization By Restricting Parallel Imports: The U.S. Copyright Owner And Taiwan Copyright Law, Soojin Kim

Washington International Law Journal

Parallel importation occurs when goods which are authorized by the copyright owner to be sold only in a specific territory abroad are imported, without the copyright owner's authorization, into a non-authorized market. Parallel importation into Taiwan has been cause for concern for both U.S. copyright owners and their Taiwan licensees because such importation undermines their control over the marketing of copyrighted goods. A copyright owner may wish to market goods differently in different countries, setting the price of goods sold in one country higher than in another country. This Comment discusses the role of U.S. political pressure in Taiwan's enactment …

When Is Time Brokerage A Transfer Of Control?  The Fcc’S Regulation Of Local Marketing Agreements And The Need For Rulemaking, Michael E. Lewyn

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Dilution Doctrine:  Towards A Reconciliation With The Lanham Act, Elliot B. Staffin

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Reverse Confusion:  Modifying The Polaroid Factors To Achieve Consistent Results, Molly S. Cusson

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rules Of The Road:  The Constitutional Limits Of Restricting Indecent Speech On The Information Superhighway, Stacey J. Rappaport

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rico And The First Amendment:  Alexander V. United States, Bruno C. Bier

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

It Had To Be Hue:  The Meaning Of Color “Pure And Simple”, Karin S. Schwartz

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Hard Cap Or Soft Cap:  The Optimal Player Mobility Restrictions For The Professional Sports Leagues, Alan M. Levine

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Trade Dress:  Who Should Bear The Burden Of Proving Or Disproving Functionality In A Section 43(A) Infringement Claim?, Danielle Rubano

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The End Of Copyright, David Nimmer

Vanderbilt Law Review

One December 8, 1994, Congress ended the experiment that it commenced on May 31, 1790, in the first Judiciary Act:' legislating an autonomous body of United States copyright law governed by the Copyright Clause of the Constitution. We witnessed, on December 8, a major change of constitutional proportions; even more significantly, we experienced the first tremors of certain tectonic shifts in United States sovereignty; and, perhaps most significantly, we undertook a sea change in defining the end that copyright serves, the identity of the master in the copyright sphere.

I refer to enactment of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (the …

A New Use For An Old License: Who Owns The Right?, Barbara D. Griff

Cardozo Law Review

In order to establish this referential background, this Note begins in Part I with a look at historic new use cases focusing on whether a grant of dramatic rights included motion picture rights, whether a grant of silent motion picture rights included rights to talkies, and whether motion picture rights included television rights. Part I continues with a survey of the current landscape and provides an overview of cases involving a grant of motion picture or television rights seeking to include videocassette rights when the original contract was signed prior to the invention or popularization of the video cassette recorder …

[email protected] - “Owning A Bitchin’ ” Corporate Trademark As An Internet Address - Infringement?, James West Marcovitz

Cardozo Law Review

Is the unauthorized use of a famous trademark as an Internet address infringement? In other words, to what extent may an individual, business, or corporation use another's trade or service mark. The Lanham Act prohibits the use of "any reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation of a registered mark in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services ... [which] is likely to cause confusion" as to the source of the goods or services in question. This Note examines whether the Lanham Act, in its current form, can be used to enjoin the …

Assembling A Theory Of Infringement: Third Party Liability Based On In Vivo Production Of Patented Pharmaceuticals, Eitan Alexander Ogen

Cardozo Law Review

This Note addresses the novel and still unresolved issues raised by the facts underlying Zenith. Part I describes the patent law system and its importance to the pharmaceutical industry. Part II discusses statutory interpretation issues raised by Zenith, relating to direct infringement and associated third party liability, as they pertain to the metabolic processes of living beings. Part III analyzes these issues in light of the existing case law. Part IV integrates the discussion by proposing a set of factors to be weighed in analyzing infringement actions against third parties that is consistent with the prevailing jurisprudence, the …

In Re Epstein: A Case Of Patent Hearsay, Dennis M. De Guzman

Washington Law Review

In In re Epstein, the Federal Circuit held that the United States Patent and Trademark Office may rely on hearsay evidence to reject patent applications. This Note examines the effects of the Epstein decision against the backdrop of software patenting and how administrative agencies have traditionally approached the problem of evaluating hearsay. It argues that the Patent and Trademark Office should articulate standards when scrutinizing hearsay in order to provide guidance to examiners and applicants, to prevent placing an unfair burden on applicants, and to thwart the abuse of the patent system.

A Shifting Barrier? Difficulties Obtaining Patent Infringement Damages In Japan, Scott K. Dinwiddie

Washington Law Review

American economic interests previously have criticized the Japanese patent system as a trade barrier. Recent agreements between the United States and Japan should help reduce the difficulties Americans have had obtaining patents in Japan. However, Americans who acquire Japanese patents are likely to be disappointed and discouraged by the formal protection afforded their new property. The patent enforcement system in Japan provides limited judicial remedies. Equitable relief is difficult to enforce. The full value of monetary damages is extremely difficult to prove, and the possibility for equitable recovery of damages in excess of those proved does not exist. The cost …