Law Commons^™

Feist Goes Global: A Comparative Analysis Of The Notion Of Originality In Copyright Law, Daniel J. Gervais

Daniel J Gervais

he 1991 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc. delivered was hailed both as a landmark decision and a legal bomb. Was Feist so original as to deserve all the attention? After all, it did not establish a new originality paradigm as such but only ended a long division among federal circuits concerning the protection under copyright of factual compilations. A number of circuits had adopted a test similar to the one articulated in Feist (i.e., based on creative selection), while others required only evidence of labor, a test known as sweat of the …

Digital Millennium Copyright Act: A True And Illustrative Dmca Case Study, Raleigh Muns

Raleigh Muns

Disruptive Technology And Common Law Lawmaking: A Brief Analysis Of A&M Records, Inc. V. Napster, Inc., Michael W. Carroll

Michael W. Carroll

This symposium Article analyzes the Ninth Circuit's decision in A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. After setting the stage with a comparison to the rise of cable television, and a description of the technologies underpinning Napster's service, the Article analyzes the doctrinal developments in the Ninth Circuit's opinion. The principal analytical points are that: (1) the court's definitions of "sampling" and "space-shifting" were overbroad, leading to oversimple fair use analysis; (2) the court's treatment of vicarious liablility for copyright infringement is doctrinally incoherent because it suggests that liability depends on whether a third party has "turn[ed] a blind eye" toward …

When Is Fair Use Fair?: A Comparison Of E.U. And U.S. Intellectual Property Law, Eric Engle

Eric A. Engle

Analyzes whether U.S. exception to copyright for fair use of materials is consistent with WTO TRIPS. Concludes it is based on economic argument.

Copyright, E-Commerce And The World Wide Web, Daniel J. Gervais

Daniel J Gervais

This early (2001) piece on the impact of the online environment on the significance and enforcement of copyright is now available online. It begins by defining concepts that were new at the time, such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) and Electronic Copyright management Systems (ECMS), and the changes in business models, both those already taking place and those that could be expected to happen. It then explores the notions of negative and positive licensing and makes the point, which future events would seem to bear out, that both right holders and users do better when right holders focus on maximizing …