Law Commons^™

Copyrightability Of Video Games: Stern And Atari, Pamela K. Mckenna

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Staying Litigation Pending Reexamination Of Patents, Robert W. Fieseler

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Why Copyright Law Should Not Protect Advertising, Douglas O. Linder, James W. Howard

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Patent Litigation Before The New Claims Court, Joseph V. Colaianni

Cleveland State Law Review

The final chapter was written recently on the United States Court of Claims, a court which from its creation in 1855 had served as the nation's conscience. The existence of this court, which had served long and well in carrying out the task of a sovereign rendering justice against itself, along with the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, was terminated on October 1, 1982, and replaced by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States Claims Court. It is not the purpose of this paper to outline the history of the Court of …

Museums, Artists And Copyright, Dorothy Weber-Karlitz

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Sound And Video-Recording And The Copyright Law: The German Approach, Ernest A. Seemann

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Bankruptcy: The Death Of Recording Contracts, Mitchell R. Julis, Ricardo A. Baez

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Artists' Moral Rights: A European Evolution, An American Revolution, Dan Rosen

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Theory Of Overclaiming And Its Application To Diamond V. Diehr, Robert A. Kreiss

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Draft Of Fair Use As Market Failure: A Structural And Economic Analysis Of The Betamax Case And Its Predecessors - 1982, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

In the recent and much publicized Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Sony Corp. of America (Betamax) case, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that persons who make videotapes of copyrighted television programs in the privacy of their homes should be considered to be copyright infringers. Basic to the court's reasoning was a misunderstanding of the "fair use" doctrine. Called "the most troublesome [doctrine] in the whole law of copyright," "fair use" renders noninfringing certain uses of copyrighted material that might technically violate the statute, but which do not violate the statute's basic purposes.

Antitrust Problems In International Technology Transfers—United States V. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 648 F.2d 642 (9th Cir. 2981), Christina Marie Ager

Washington Law Review

In 1970 the Department of Justice brought an antitrust action against Westinghouse Electric Corporation and two Japanese corporations, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) (together Mitsubishi). The government alleged violations of section 1 of the Sherman Act. Since 1923 the defendants or their predecessors had a series of technology-sharing agreements under which Westinghouse granted licenses of its Japanese patents to Mitsubishi. It excluded its counterpart patents in the United States and Canada from the agreements. The government contended that Mitsubishi had become so dependent on Westinghouse technology because of the technology-sharing agreements that it could not …

General Motors Corporation V. Devex Corp., Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

Copyright Law—Who Gets The Picture?—Universal City Studios, Inc., V. Sony Corp. Of America, 659 F.2d 963 (9th Cir. 1981), Cert. Granted, 50 U.S.L.W. 3982 (No. 81-1687), Debra A. Sitzberger

Washington Law Review

In Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Sony Corp. of America, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit defined the scope of copyright protection afforded audiovisual material broadcast on public airways. The plaintiffs, Universal City Studios, Inc. and Walt Disney Productions, Inc., produced and owned the copyrights to thirty-two publicly broadcast motion pictures. The case arose when the defendant recorded these movies for private use on a Sony "Betamax" brand home videotape recorder (VTR). The plaintiffs sued this defendant for direct copyright infringement. They also sued the manufacturer, distributor, advertiser, and retail sellers of the Betamax VTR for …

Parallel Importation Of Trademarked Goods: A Comparative Analysis, Kaoru Takamatsu

Washington Law Review

This Article reviews how major countries and common markets, including the United States, Japan and the European Community, have dealt with the problem of parallel importation. It then suggests common criteria to solve this problem in each nation. It concludes that the proper results in parallel importation cases will be reached if the problem is analyzed in terms of the major functions of trademarks.

Report To The Copyright Office By The American Association Of Law Libraries, James S. Heller

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Xi. Patent, Copyright & Trademark Law

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Courts In Broadcast Regulatory Policy-Making, Lawrence D. Longley, Erwin G. Krasnow, Herbert A. Terry

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In the early decades of broadcast regulation, the regulatory process was dominated by (and largely restricted to) three major participants--Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the industry itself. This balance of forces has now been altered by the increased involvement of three new participants in broadcast regulatory policy making the public, in the form of citizen groups; the White House, by means of special advisory bodies, appointment powers, budgetary control, and active communication-oriented divisions of Cabinet level agencies; and the courts, in the form of judicial opinions prescribing and precluding FCC policy initiatives. These three new activist participants in …

Control Of, And Access To, On-Line Computer Data Bases: Some First Amendment Issues In Videotex And Teletext, Henry Beck

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Information stored in centralized data banks is now accessible by home computer over telephone and cable networks, and through over-the-air broadcasting. The proprietors of these data banks may be said to "publish" their information each time an end-user retrieves information from their data bases. If taken seriously, this concept of "electronic publication" raises important first amendment questions.

After a brief introduction to the nature of the new medium, this article discusses some of the first amendment issues involved in access to stored information bases and the "mirror image" problem of controlling such stored information. Because many of the potential first …

Federal Preemption Of State Obscenity Law Applied To Broadcasting, William Hanks, Steve Coran

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

With the expansion of cable and free-air subscription television into more markets, interstate transmission by satellite and by broadcasting have frequently included R-rated movies. This increases the likelihood that states will apply obscenity laws and other laws related to program content to television programming. This article argues that state obscenity laws applied to broadcasting are preempted by federal law. There are several grounds for concluding that Congress intended to preempt: (1) the Communications Act empowered the FCC to establish a nationwide telecommunications system, and it is probable that state obscenity laws would conflict with each other and with federal broadcast …

Cable Television Secured Financing, Robert G. Weiss, Alan G. Benjamin

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Lenders financing cable television construction and operation commonly use the cable television system itself as collateral. This article focuses on the documentation requirements and the legal impediments to realization of anticipated cash flow. Documentation includes the security agreement and the financing statement; this article also examines documentation in relation to the municipal franchise. Legal impediments include rate controls, recent developments in antitrust law and competition from alternative technological systems such as subscription television, direct broadcast satellite, multipoint distribution service, satellite master antenna television, low power television and home view networks.

People Ex Rel. Gow V. Mitchell Brothers: California Gropes For A Civil Obscenity Standard, Peter F. Frost

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Recent years have seen an increase in the number of civil nuisance actions to restrain the exhibition of obscenity. Authorities have split over whether civil or criminal procedural standards should govern such actions. The California Court of Appeal, in People ex rel. Gow v. Mitchell Brothers Theatre, has addressed some of these issues. The author examines the court's reasoning regarding the appropriate remedies and standard of proof in such actions. In addition, the author addresses the propriety of a jury trial, concluding that a jury trial should be a matter of right in the determination of obscenity.

Mississippi's Prohibition Of Alcoholic Beverage Advertising: A Constitutional Analysis, Charlotte K. Ito

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Mississippi prohibits alcoholic beverage advertising to further its interest in promoting temperance. This note applies the first amendment commercial speech standard to the advertising ban and concludes that the alcoholic beverage advertising ban is an unconstitutional restraint of free speech. Further consideration of the interplay between the first and twenty first amendments indicates that to the extent that the ban violates first amendment interests, it is unsupported by the twenty first amendment.

Feature Film Secured Financing: A Transactional Approach For Lender's Counsel, Robert G. Weiss, Alan G. Benjamin

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The authors describe the legal techniques that can be used by a secured lender's counsel to reduce the risks attendant upon the interim financing of feature films. The authors tell counsel how to accomplish the essential and inter-related tasks of (1) defining, perfecting and protecting a security interest in the feature film and related collateral; (2) assuring timely and on-budget delivery of the feature film; and (3) assuring receipt of promised presale advances used to "take out" the interim lender.

Copyright Infringement: An Argument For The Elimination Of The Scenes A Faire Doctrine, Don M. Tamura

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note deals with a relatively obscure aspect of copyright law-the scones a faire doctrine. In recent years it has gained popularity as a defense for potential infringers. The note first discusses the background of copyright law and the elements of a copyright infringement action. Then, two major theories and a procedural methodology are outlined before the scones a faire doctrine is defined and analyzed. After comparing the doctrine with the established theories of copyright protection, the author concludes that the doctrine is seriously flawed and conflicts with the other theories.

Divorce In The Entertainment Industry - Some Special Problems, Ovvie Miller

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Lawyers representing divorce clients in the entertainment industry are often presented with cases where the parties have substantial variations in annual income. Claims involving characterization and valuation of unique assets such as "right of publicity" also arise regularly. The legal background of these matters is reviewed from the perspective of California and New York law. The author offers practical advice to the lawyer who may have a case where these issues are presented.

Notes Re Betamax - 1982, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

There's a lot of misunderstanding of by BX article. Some simplifying things: There are three types of "market failure" in copyright. The first inheres in the nonexhaustibil ity of the good; barring a right to post-dissemination control against copying, goods may be underproduced because potential users will refuse to pay for access, figuring they can get access to a friend's copy later for free or at lower cost than the creator would charoe. Thus. relying only o~ the physical control which lets i creato~ charge for the "first look", will (except where the look wont' make copying possible- the trade …

Abstract Of Gift Failure Versus Market Failure - 1982, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Gifts and gift exchanges can serve a combination of economic, personal, social, and humanitarian ends. This article explores how intellectual products are unusually capable of serving these ends through gift relations, and suggests ways in which the law can assist in this process.

Fair Use And Audiovisual Criticism, Brian S. O'Malley

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The doctrine of fair use, recently codified at 17 U.S.C. § 107, has long been recognized as a defense to infringement actions where excerpts of a copyrighted work were used in a criticism of that work. Two recent

cases, however, Iowa State University v. ABC and Roy Export v. CBS, have rejected defenses of fair use of audiovisual excerpts. This note traces the history of the fair use doctrine as it has been used in cases involving criticism, and as it has been applied to visual and audiovisual materials. The author proposes a "subject of the criticism" analysis for examining …

The Author, The Irs And Prepublication Expenditures, David Walton

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Authors have customarily deducted expenditures incurred in preparing a book for publication. The IRS has taken the position that such expenditures should be capitalized and then amortized. In the recent case of Faura v. Commissioner, the Tax Court allowed authors to deduct prepublication expenditures rather than capitalize them. In 1976, section 280 was added to the Internal Revenue Code by the 1976 Tax Reform Act. This section appears to require authors to capitalize prepublication expenditures for books. The Tax Reform Act of 1976 also contained section 2119 which allows authors to deduct prepublication expenditures until regulations are promulgated concerning them. …

A Media Labor Law Symposium: Introduction, David Tajgman

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.