Law Commons^™

Television Formats: Caught In The Abyss Of The Idea/Expression Dichotomy, Jay Rubin

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Private Standards In Public Law: Copyright, Lawmaking And The Case Of Accounting, Lawrence A. Cunningham

Michigan Law Review

Government increasingly leverages its regulatory function by embodying in law standards that are promulgated and copyrighted by nongovernmental organizations. Departures from such standards expose citizens to criminal, civil, and administrative sanctions, yet private actors generate, control, and limit access to them. Despite governmental ambitions, no one is responsible for evaluating the legitimacy of this approach ex ante and no framework exists to facilitate analysis. This Article contributes an analytical framework and proposes institutional mechanisms to implement it. The lack of a comprehensive framework for evaluating copyright to standards embodied in law is surprising because the range of standards potentially affected …

Shades Of Grey: Can The Copyright Fair Use Defense Adapt To New Re-Contextualized Forms Of Music And Art?, Nicholas B. Lewis

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

United States V. Martignon: The First Case To Rule That The Federal Anti-Bootlegging Statute Is Unconstitutional Copyright Legislation, Michael C. Shue

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Levies In Canada's Digital Music Marketplace, Jeremy F. Debeer

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This paper considers whether such initiatives are a desirable alternative to the current system of exclusive proprietary copyrights. My goal is not to evaluate the nuances of any particular levy scheme or proposal, but to consider the implications of the concept from a specifically Canadian perspective. Despite the generality of the analysis, many of the observations and conclusions about the viability of levy schemes relate to Canada’s actual experiences with its existing private copying levy.

The paper concludes that tariffs or levies on the products and services of third parties are not the best method to support the Canadian music …

Do We Have Too Many Intellectual Property Rights?, Richard A. Posner

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

The Honorable Richard A. Posner discusses the dangers presented by the propertization of intellectual property rights, particularly in the areas of copyright and patent. Unlike physical property, intellectual property rights are limited by duration, scope, and allowance of faire use. These limitations underlie the existence of a rich public domain that encourages the most valuable uses of intellectual property by reducing transaction costs and encouraging the creation of additional creative works.

Divergent Evolution Of The Patent Power And The Copyright Power, Edward C. Walterscheid

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Patent and copyright law in the United States derives from a constitutional grant of power to Congress, which drafted the Patent and Copyright Acts. The U.S. Supreme Court has addressed the meaning of various terms in the Patent and Copyright Clause, but only addressed the constitutionality of a copyright statute in 2003. The Court has never considered the constitutionality of a patent statute. The purpose of this article is to explore Congress' and the courts' diverging interpretations of the patent and copyright powers. It explores the reasons for this divergence, tracing the historic kinship between the two powers from the …

A Technical Critique Of Fifty Software Patents, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Patrick Valduriez

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

There has been a great deal of discussion on the desirability of software patents in the legal, economic, and technical academic literature. Case law is the basis of most of the legal literature on the topic. Typically, the basis of the economic literature on patents is the statistical analysis of large numbers of patents. The technical literature frequently hostile to patents often is based on an examination of a small number of pathologically bad patents The authors seek to overcome the inherent limitations of each category of article. The approach taken was to conduct a detailed, technical examination of the …

Panel Ii: Licensing In The Digital Age: The Future Of Digital Rights Management, Marybeth Peters, Joseph Salvo, Fred Von Lohmann, Hugh C. Hansen

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Panel Ii: Licensing In The Digital Age: The Future Of Digital Rights Management, Marybeth Peters, Joseph Salvo, Fred Von Lohmann, Hugh C. Hansen

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Martignon And Kiss Catalog: Can Live Performances Be Protected?, Brian Danitz

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Martignon And Kiss Catalog: Can Live Performances Be Protected?, Brian Danitz

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Special Project: Current Issues In Intellectual Property, W. Russell Taber

Vanderbilt Law Review

A single legal concept has produced some of the greatest achievements of the human mind: intellectual property. Thousands of years ago, Aristotle denounced the then novel notion of rewarding those who create inventions beneficial to the state. History has been kind to Aristotle, but not because of his insights on intellectual property. The Venetian Senate's passage of the 1474 Act marked the beginning of systematic patent protection on European soil. Along with blown glassware, Venice later exported its penchant for patent protection to the rest of Europe, including Great Britain by the mid- sixteenth century. During the same era, the …

Introduction: Special Project - Current Issues In Intellectual Property, W. Russell Taber

Vanderbilt Law Review

A single legal concept has produced some of the greatest achievements of the human mind: intellectual property. Thousands of years ago, Aristotle denounced the then novel notion of rewarding those who create inventions beneficial to the state. History has been kind to Aristotle, but not because of his insights on intellectual property. The Venetian Senate's passage of the 1474 Act marked the beginning of systematic patent protection on European soil. Along with blown glassware, Venice later exported its penchant for patent protection to the rest of Europe, including Great Britain by the mid- sixteenth century. During the same era, the …

Copyright "Deja Vu": A New Definition Of "Publication" Under The Copyright Act Of 1909, W. Russell Taber

Vanderbilt Law Review

"I have a dream," Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., declared from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington in 1963. About 200,000 people had gathered to listen to Dr. King's famous speech and to participate in the events of the day. Millions more witnessed the live broadcast on major television and radio stations. Others read the text of the speech in newspapers across the country.

Just over a month later, Dr. King applied for federal copyright protection for the speech. Under federal copyright law at the time, an owner who published a work prior to complying …

Who Owns The Internet? Ownership As A Legal Basis For American Control Of The Internet, Markus Muller

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Problems Of Anti-Circumvention Rules In The Dmca & More Heterogeneous Solutions, Yijun Tian

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Who Owns The Internet? Ownership As A Legal Basis For American Control Of The Internet, Markus Muller

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Problems Of Anti-Circumvention Rules In The Dmca & More Heterogeneous Solutions, Yijun Tian

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Will Lessig Succeed In Challenging The Ctea, Post-Eldred, Matthew Dean Stratton

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Authorship, Ownership , And Control: Balancing The Economicc And Artistic Issues Raised By The Martha Graham Copyright Case, Sharon Connelly

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Will Lessig Succeed In Challenging The Ctea, Post-Eldred, Matthew Dean Stratton

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Authorship, Ownership , And Control: Balancing The Economicc And Artistic Issues Raised By The Martha Graham Copyright Case, Sharon Connelly

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Lost In Translation: Distinguishing Between French And Anglo-American Natural Rights In Literary Property, And How Dastar Proves That The Difference Still Matters, Benjamin Davidson

Cornell International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Towards A New Core International Copyright Norm: The Reverse Three-Step Test, Daniel J. Gervais

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

This paper argues that it is time to replace the existing set of copyright rights by focusing on its true policy objectives. The paper identifies what is wrong with extant norms and spotlights the apparent chasm between the policy objectives and the norms. The paper proposes a new international copyright norm based on the Berne Convention's three-step test, in harmony with the U.S. fair use doctrine. The author suggests that fair use reflects an appropriate set of criteria to balance the rights of copyright holders and the needs and interests of users, which could serve as a basis to build …

The Spawn Of Learned Hand-A Reexamination Of Copyright Protection And Fictional Characters: How Distinctly Delineated Must The Story Be Told?, Gregory S. Schienke

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Fictional characters are the backbone of the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry. Since the early twentieth century, the owners of fictional characters have recognized that there is money to be made in derivative products featuring those characters and move swiftly to stop infringing use of those characters. Learned Hand, in passing, allowed that fictional characters could be protected through copyright law if the characters were distinctly delineated. Since then, the courts have created a piecemeal protective-strategy involving trademark and copyright law to protect fictional characters. The Seventh Circuit in Gaiman v. McFarlane, continued using the traditional analysis, that copyrightability for a …

An Umbrella Or A Canopy?: Why The 17 U.S.C. Section 512(A) Safe Harbor Should Be Read Broadly, Sven Skillrud

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

With technology constantly changing, the interaction between copyright law and technology is always at odds, especially since the evolution of the Internet. To keep up with the ever-changing Internet, Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; specifically, it created four safe harbors that are intended to protect entities from copyright infringement that qualify as online service providers. However, it seems that the courts have had trouble interpreting who is covered under these safe harbors, namely, as to what entities qualify under the first safe harbor "Transitory Digital Network Communications." There are only a few cases where entities have qualified under …

The Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act: Much Ado About Something?, Antoinette Vacca

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

The AWCPA has been in effect for thirteen years, enough time for an evaluation of its effect on those who have been working within its framework. Has the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act of 1990 (AWCPA) met the public's interests by encouraging original and innovative design? U.S. intellectual property laws are founded on balancing benefit to the public with reward and incentive to the author, while the standards of protection under the Berne Convention are grounded in the principle that copyright is a natural right of the author. The AWCPA of 1990 adopted the Berne Standard of according protection to …

The Downhill Battle To Copyright Sonic Ideas In Bridgeport Music, Matthew S. Garnett

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Note argues that the bright-line rule announced in Bridgeport Music should not apply where the disputed digital sample appropriates only the "sonic" ideas of the original work. The main thrust of this argument is that the Sixth Circuit's holding in Bridgeport Music is inapplicable where the disputed copying is a protected exercise of "fair use" reverse engineering; that is, where copying is necessary to appropriate the "sonic" ideas embodied in the sampled work.

Part II of this Note presents a brief history of digital sampling, including its application in the Hip-Hop musical genre. Part III presents a walkthrough of …

"It's Mine! No, It's Mine! No, It's Mine!" Works-Made-For-Hire, Section 203 Of The Copyright Act, And Sound Recordings, Adam H. Dunst

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Under Section 203 of the 1976 Copyright Act, assignments of copyrights by authors after January 1, 1978, are subject to termination starting 35 years through 40 years after the date of the grant, regardless of any term stated in the agreement. Congress intended that authors have the opportunity to repossess copyrights and enjoy future rewards of their creative works at a point in time when they have a better sense of their works' values and more bargaining power. This "second bite at the apple" protects authors from transfers for which they were inadequately compensated. To protect authors' interests, the Copyright …