Law Commons^™

International Panel: Comparative Approaches To Media Protection, Joseph C. Sweeney, Ben Caspit, Andrea Hanlon, David A. Schulz

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Process Patents Amendments Act: The Labyrinth, David L. Hitchcock, Craig Allen Nard

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Originality, Russ Versteeg

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legislative Process And Commercial Law: Lessons From The Copyright Act Of 1976 And The Uniform Commercial Code, Harold R. Weinberg, William J. Woodward Jr.

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Overlap and conflict are inevitable in any legal system in which a federal government and state governments both have authority to enact laws. In our federal system, the Constitution's Supremacy Clause identifies federal law as preeminent in case of conflict. When conflict develops and litigation is required to determine whether state or federal law controls the issue at hand, our system analyzes the problem using the term preemption as a basis for analysis.

This Article explores the federal legislative process that precedes judicial preemption decisions. By studying the legislative process for its sensitivity to preemption issues, possible ways to modify …

Conception And The "On Sale" Bar, David W. Carstens, Craig Allen Nard

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter Re: A Property Right In Self Expression: Equality And Individualism In The Natural Law Of Intellectual Property, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

Scholarship Chronologically

I liked your A Property Right in Self Expression: Equality and Individualism in the Natural Law of Intellectual Property very much. I have the following comments or suggestions:

Letter To Guido Calabresi, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

As you may recall, I first became seriously entranced by your work when you gave the "Tragic Choices" lectures at Penn.

Blackmail: Deontology - 1993, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

The basic logic of my deontologic approach is this.

Blackmail: Dde-Type Inquiries - 1993, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

DDE-type inquiries usually emerge from a particular brand of intuitionistically-applied deontology which one might call a "theory of side-constraints". From the deontologic notion that "persons are ends, not means," philosophers of this stripe have intuited a number of constraints that should constrain moral actors regardless of the cost. The science of side-constraints is obviously inconsistent with theories such as utilitarianism and economic wealth-maximization, where assessing the costs and benefits of an action constitute the primary guide for action. By contrast side-constraint philosophers tell us that one may not kill another person even to save a large number of other persons; …

Droit De Suit: The Artist's Right To A Resale Royalty, Marilyn J. Krestinger

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article discusses an artist's right to participate in the profits or royalties from the resale or use a work. It briefly traces the right to its European roots, notes the current countries that have an effective resale royalty, and then discusses the status of the right in the United States, summing up the recent report of the U.S. Copyright Office to Congress. The article concludes that if the European Community harmonizes existing droit de suite laws within the Community, then the United States may move in that direction.

Software Look And Feel Protection In The 1990s, Jack Russo, Jamie Nafziger

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article reviews the historical development of "look and feel" copyright protection of computer software, including discussion of decisions favoring broad protection, decisions favoring competitive principles, and decisions taking an analytic approach to software copyright protection. The article also analyzes recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions to explore how the Court may decide the computer software "look and feel" issues, including consideration of how Lanham Act trade dress protection might be applied to protect computer software visual displays.

What's Wrong With Vara: A Critique Of Federal Moral Rights, Peter H. Karlen

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA) may represent the most important artists' rights legislation in the history of the United States. Yet, according to the author, VARA is replete with ambiguities, trouble spots, omissions, and potential problems which will only be resolved in the courts or, preferably, through early legislative amendments. This article analyzes the key portions of VARA dealing with subject matter, ownership, rights, duration, waiver, works in buildings, and preemption. Each area of the statutory text is followed by the author's commentary.

Moral Rights And Real Life Artists, Peter H. Karlen

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Although both moral rights legislation and moral rights litigation have proliferated in recent years, there is still a dearth of published opinions dealing with moral rights issues. This article, derived from the author's extensive experience with moral rights cases, provides an insight into the critical issues in moral rights litigation. The author cites anecdotal information as well as cases that have garnered attention in the art world but did not yield published court opinions.

Access To And Authority To Cite Unpublished Decisions Of The Pto, Thomas G. Field Jr

Law Faculty Scholarship

This paper begins with the Solicitor [of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office]'s explanation of the term "unpublished." It then reviews various kinds of published PTO decisions where the precedential effect of unpublished decisions has been addressed. There, we see that the PTO has generally not ignored unpublished precedent--at least, deliberately--and that the Solicitor agrees that this may not be done. Next, this paper examines the almost universal practice of federal appeals courts disallowing use of their unpublished decisions as precedent--and some of the reasons for widespread criticism of that practice. It also discusses some of the reasons that judges, …

Virtual Reality, Appropriation, And Property Rights In Art - Draft Of Bauer Lecture - 1993, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

I would like to thank the Cardozo Law Review for their invitation to speak, and all those who have taken the time to discuss this issue with me in the recent past, including my commentator Marci Hamilton. I also thank the audience for its attendance and attention, and I look forward to the criticisms/reactions from all of you and from Prof Hamilton.

Blackmail: Property Right - 1993, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

It is not a paradox. For it to be a paradox, the following would have to be true: that when one is free to do one thing, or not to do it, one is also free to threaten to do it and sell that for money. But threat and sale are not even "lesser included acts" within doing and not doing; they are quite different from doing or not doing.

The Questionable Utility Of Copyright Notice: Statutory And Nonlegal Incentives In The Post-Berne Era, Thomas P. Arden

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Meaningful Concept Of "Harm" - 1993, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

No abstract provided.

Handwritten Notes On Blackmail - 1993, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

No abstract provided.

Handwritten Notes On Blackmail - 1993, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

No abstract provided.

Software Patent Protection: A Problem-Solution Theory For Harmonizing The Precedent, 12 Computer L.J. 25 (1993), Lance L. Vietzke

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

No abstract provided.

The New Medium Of Expression: Introducing Virtual Reality And Anticipating Copyright Issues, 12 Computer L.J. 175 (1993), Greg S. Weber

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

No abstract provided.

The Best Mode Requirement In United States Patent Practice In 1993, 12 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 353 (1993), Kenneth R. Adamo

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

This article discusses the best mode requirement set forth in section 112 of the United States Patent Act. This requirement is unique to United States patent law and must be satisfied by every utility patent application filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This article then discusses how decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit have helped clarify and refine the best mode requirement and its application to patents in the field of computer technology (i.e., In re Hayes Microcomputer Products). Then it discusses how these holdings have made this already difficult area …

Recent Developments In Computer Law: An Update, 12 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 395 (1993), Bradley J. Hulbert

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

This article provides an overview of case law that had developed in 1993 relating to computers, summarizing cases in the following fourteen areas of the law: 1. Administrative - This section briefs a case holding that the Bush Administration's e-mail records fell within the scope of the Federal Records Act. 2. Anti-trust - This section includes: an overview of a case defining "sham" lawsuits and a summary of a case holding that a large software firm's supplier requirements may define a relevant market for an anti-trust analysis. 3. Civil Procedure - This section gives a brief summary of a case …

An Analysis That Is Not "Ad Hoc": The Bifurcated Uniform Analysis That The Federal Courts Should Follow To Determine Computer Program Copyright Nonliteral Infringement, 12 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 485 (1993), Michael J. Bendel

UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law

This article examines the issues surrounding software copyright protection and the problem of inconsistent court analysis across the country. After reviewing the problems particular to software copyright, the author recommends a new course of court analysis that would bring consistent analysis and decisions to this growing area of law. Courts have begun to examine the scope of protection the Copyright Act grants to computer software beyond the literal text of the software's programming language. Two classifications for computer programs have developed: literal, which focuses on the actual text of the program, and non-literal, which is concerned with organization, structure and …

Notes To Commenters Of "Truth And Consequences" - 1993, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

No abstract provided.

Shifting The Balance Of Copyright Control For Photographic Works In Canada, Margaret Ann Wilkinson, Charles Painter

Law Publications

This case comments upon the recent Ontario Divisional Court decision in Allen v Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd (1997), 36 OR (3d) 201 (Ont Div Ct), focusing upon the issue of ownership of copyright in photogenic works in Canada, and the negative effects that this decision will ahve, if followed in other cases and jurisdictions, upon creators' ability to control their works and to derive full economic benefit therefrom as envisioned under Canada's Copyright Act, RSC 1985 c C-42.

Add-On Infringements: When Computer Add-Ons And Peripherals Should (And Should Not) Be Considered Infringing Derivative Works Under Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. V. Nintendo Of America, Inc., And Other Recent Decisions, Edward G. Black, Michael H. Page

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The large and growing installed base of computer products is quickly giving rise to a large secondary market for computer add-ons that add new features to or enhance the performance of primary computer products. This article discusses how copyright doctrines, including the derivative works and fair use doctrines, have been-and should be-applied to computer add-ons. After analyzing the current state of the law under the Ninth Circuit's decision in Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc., and other decisions, the authors argue that copyright doctrines should be construed to encourage the use of add-ons that add new features …

Crime Scene Videotapes: Are Television Techniques Violating The Confrontation Clause, Katharyn Bond

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Videotape presentations in courtroom proceedings are admissible upon the proper foundation of accuracy and faithfulness. Anyone present at the taping of the crime scene may establish the requisite foundation. The admissibility of videotaped evidence is premised on the assumption that the technology itself is neutral and reliable, and that it accurately conveys what is in front of the camera. This note counters the validity of this assumption in the context of crime scene videotapes. Grisly crime scenes are now videotaped by police officers and later used by prosecutors at trial as demonstrative evidence. This note argues that it is the …

Copyright Registration For Computer Programs And Screen Displays, Nancy H. Lawrence

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article summarizes the practices of the U.S. Copyright Office for registration of copyright claims in computer programs and screen displays, and touches on some of the new software developments that raise issues relevant to registration.