Law Commons^™

Spectrum Rights For Complementary Connectivity, Sarah Oh

Sarah Oh

In spectrum policy, regulators define legal certainties to withstand the dynamics of technology change. Coordinated networks of wireless radios – over-the-air television antennas, 4G LTE mobile broadband, WiFi nodes, satellite dishes, GPS chips, and government devices – each depend on independent rulemakings to provide degrees of operational certainty. Yet innovative technologies can layer noise across radio constituencies with flexibility, as engineers rightly claim, if minds meet in economic alignment.

The stubborn challenge is a sequential one, as hardware design relies on existing knowledge and future uncertainty, with necessary conditions to stabilize emission patterns and harmful interference expectations. The state of …

Ethics In Intellectual Property Negotiations: Issues And Illustrations, Lisa A. Dolak

Lisa A Dolak

Negotiating – formally or informally – is a characteristic aspect of law practice. The requisite skills are acquired “on the job” and, for some, via the formal study of negotiation processes and attributes. The negotiator has much to consider, including the client’s goals and interests, likely litigation outcomes should negotiations fail or any ultimate agreement be breached, and what the counterparty is likely seeking to accomplish.

The challenges include negotiating within the limits imposed by the ethics rules. This paper identifies key authorities relevant to negotiation ethics and illustrates their operation in the context of hypotheticals based on intellectual property …

Navigating The Uncharted Waters Of Teaching Law With Online Simulations, Ira Steven Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

The Internet is more than a place where the Millennial Generation communicates, plays, and shops. It is also a medium that raises issues central to nearly every existing field of legal doctrine, whether basic (such as Torts, Property, or Contracts) or advanced (such as Intellectual Property, Criminal Procedure, or Securities Regulation). This creates tremendous opportunities for legal educators interested in using the live Internet for experiential education. This Article examines how live websites can be used to create engaging and holistic simulations that tie together doctrine, theory, skills, and values in ways impossible to achieve with the case method. In …

Best Practices For The Law Of The Horse: Teaching Cyberlaw And Illuminating Law Through Online Simulations, Ira Steven Nathenson

Ira Steven Nathenson

In an influential 1996 article entitled "Cyberspace and the Law of the Horse," Judge Frank Easterbrook mocked cyberlaw as a subject lacking in cohesion and therefore unworthy of inclusion in the law school curriculum. Responses to Easterbrook, most notably that of Lawrence Lessig in his 1999 article "The Law of the Horse: What Cyberlaw Might Teach," have taken a theoretical approach. However, this Article—also appropriating the “Law of the Horse” moniker—concludes that Easterbrook’s challenge is primarily pedagogical, requiring a response keyed to whether cyberlaw ought to be taught in law schools. The Article concludes that despite Easterbrook’s concerns, cyberlaw presents …

Patent Cases And Jurisdiction Controversies, Amelia Smith Rinehart

Amelia Smith Rinehart

No abstract provided.

Toward A Limited Right Of Publicity: An Argument For The Convergence Of The Right Of Publicity, Unfair Competition & Trademark Law, Andrew Beckerman Rodau

Andrew Beckerman Rodau

The right of publicity, the newest type of intellectual property, allows a person to control commercial use of his or her identity. The scope of the right has expanded significantly because many courts and commentators have misinterpreted it by viewing it as a pure property right justified by a labor or unjust enrichment theory. It should be evaluated in light of the utilitarian justification for intellectual property law. Rewarding people by allowing them to monetize their public persona is not the goal. The goal is to incentivize individuals to engage in creative endeavors for the benefit of the public. An …

A Rollicking Band Of Pirates: Licensing The Exclusive Right Of Public Performance In The Theatre Industry, Shane D. Valenzi

Shane D Valenzi

With ticket prices on Broadway at an all-time high, amateur and regional theatres are the only venues for theatrical productions to which most Americans are exposed. Licensing these performance rights—known as “stock and amateur rights”—is the primary source of income for many playwrights, even for those whose plays flopped at the highest level. However, the licensing houses responsible for facilitating these transactions frequently retain and exercise the ability to issue exclusive performance licenses to certain large regional theatres. This practice limits public access to particular works and restricts playwrights’ potential earnings in those works. Though this behavior does not amount …

Images In/Of Law, Jessica M. Silbey

Jessica Silbey

The proliferation of images in and of law lends itself to surprisingly complex problems of epistemology and power. Understanding through images is innate; most of us easily understand images without thinking. But arriving at mutually agreeable understandings of images is also difficult. Translating images into shared words leads to multiple problems inherent in translation and that pose problems for justice. Despite our saturated imagistic culture, we have not established methods to pursue that translation process with confidence. This article explains how images are intuitively understood and yet collectively inscrutable, posing unique problems for resolving legal conflicts that demand common and …

Intellectual Property Rights And Detached Human Body Parts, Justine Pila

Justine Pila

This paper responds to an invitation by the editors to consider whether the intellectual property (IP) regime suggests an appropriate model for protecting interests in detached human body parts. It begins by outlining the extent of existing IP protection for body parts in Europe, and the relevant strengths and weaknesses of the patent system in that regard. It then considers two further species of IP right of less obvious relevance. The first are the statutory rights of ownership conferred by domestic UK law in respect of employee inventions, and the second are the economic and moral rights recognized by European …