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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Story Of A Character: Establishing The Limits Of Independent Copyright Protection For Literary Characters, Samuel J. Coe
The Story Of A Character: Establishing The Limits Of Independent Copyright Protection For Literary Characters, Samuel J. Coe
Chicago-Kent Law Review
Copyright law provides writers with a way to protect their original works of authorship, but courts often disagree over the scope of this protection and how far it can be extended for the fictional characters appearing within literary works. Characters like Holden Caulfield and James Bond have become extremely valuable forms of intellectual property, but even for such iconic figures it can be difficult to separate the character from the story to determine where one work ends and the other begins. To address this issue, the Second Circuit follows the "distinctly delineated" test, which asks whether a character has been …
Heavy Metal Alloys: Unsigned Rock Bands And Joint Work, Michael S. Young
Heavy Metal Alloys: Unsigned Rock Bands And Joint Work, Michael S. Young
Chicago-Kent Law Review
This note uses humorous illustrations culled from the history of popular heavy metal music to facilitate examination of the effectiveness of joint authorship analysis by modern federal courts. The note carefully considers a variety of common contributions made by band members in the absence of any written or verbal agreement about authorship, and concludes (1) that a more equitable regime would do away with the requirement that a co-author make an "independently copyrightable" contribution, and (2) that courts must take greater care not to transform "will to control" into "intent to be a sole author."
Twittering Away The Right Of Publicity: Personality Rights And Celebrity Impersonation On Social Networking Websites, Andrew M. Jung
Twittering Away The Right Of Publicity: Personality Rights And Celebrity Impersonation On Social Networking Websites, Andrew M. Jung
Chicago-Kent Law Review
Within the past couple of years, social networking websites have become an immensely popular destination for people from all walks of life. Websites like Facebook and Twitter now count tens of millions of worldwide users, including world leaders and a number of celebrities. Eventually, users realized that social networking websites lent themselves to the quick and easy impersonation of celebrities through the creation of fake social networking accounts, often as a form of parody. One subject of such impersonation was professional baseball manager Tony La Russa, who took the then-unprecedented step of suing his impersonators and Twitter over the incident. …
Coding Privacy, Lilian Edwards
Coding Privacy, Lilian Edwards
Chicago-Kent Law Review
Lawrence Lessig famously and usefully argues that cyberspace is regulated not just by law but also by norms, markets and architecture or "code." His insightful work might also lead the unwary to conclude, however, that code is inherently anti-privacy, and thus that an increasingly digital world must therefore also be increasingly devoid of privacy. This paper argues briefly that since technology is a neutral tool, code can be designed as much to fight for privacy as against it, and that what matters now is to look at what incentivizes the creation of pro- rather than anti-privacy code in the mainstream …
Peer-To-Peering Beyond The Horizon: Can A P2p Network Avoid Liability By Adapting Its Technological Structure?, Matthew G. Minder
Peer-To-Peering Beyond The Horizon: Can A P2p Network Avoid Liability By Adapting Its Technological Structure?, Matthew G. Minder
Chicago-Kent Law Review
Peer-to-peer networks are often used to infringe copyrights, but they also serve some legitimate purposes consistent with copyright law. In attempting to find a satisfactor solution, this note develops and analyzes two models that future peer-to-peer networks could employ to attempt to avoid liability for copyright infringement. The note then analyzes the law, applies the two models to the relevant legal tests, and analyzes whether a peer-to-peer network operating on each model could avoid liability for copyright infringement. It concludes that modifying their technological structure may help peer-to-peer networks avoid liability, but that some risks remain.
The Protection Of Databases, Daniel J. Gervais
The Protection Of Databases, Daniel J. Gervais
Chicago-Kent Law Review
In Parts I and II of this Paper, the author analyzes the legal protection of databases first in international treaties, in particular the Berne Convention and the WTO TRIPS Agreement, and second under national and regional copyright, sui generis, or other (e.g., tort) law in Europe (both the European Directive on the legal protection of databases of 1996, which was under review, and a number of relevant national laws), the United States, and a number of foreign jurisdictions (Australia, Canada, China, Nigeria, Russia, and Singapore). In Part III, the author provides a critical analysis of the effort to expand the …
A Marriage Of Convenience? A Comment On The Protection Of Databases, Jane C. Ginsburg
A Marriage Of Convenience? A Comment On The Protection Of Databases, Jane C. Ginsburg
Chicago-Kent Law Review
No abstract provided.
Copyright, Translations, And Relations Between Britain And India In The Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, Lionel Bently
Copyright, Translations, And Relations Between Britain And India In The Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, Lionel Bently
Chicago-Kent Law Review
This paper examines the tension between trade and development, and its handling in multiple layers of law-making through an historical case study concerning copyright in India in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. The paper explains the emergence of views in the Government of India of what copyright law should cover that reflected longstanding but not unproblematic assumptions about India's need for European knowledge and learning. The belief that India needed access to European knowledge informed resistance to the desires of British publishers that copyright owners should be able to control the making of translations of their works. These divergences between …
Creative Lawmaking: A Comment On Lionel Bently, Copyright, Translations, And Relations Between Britain And India In The Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, Rochelle C. Dreyfuss
Creative Lawmaking: A Comment On Lionel Bently, Copyright, Translations, And Relations Between Britain And India In The Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Centuries, Rochelle C. Dreyfuss
Chicago-Kent Law Review
No abstract provided.
Codifying A Commons: Copyright, Copyleft, And The Creative Commons Project, Adrienne K. Goss
Codifying A Commons: Copyright, Copyleft, And The Creative Commons Project, Adrienne K. Goss
Chicago-Kent Law Review
In response to problems of overprotection perceived in America's copyright scheme, the founders of the Creative Commons project have sought to create modular licenses allowing authors and artists to declaim some of the default protections associated with their copyright in order to grant public permission for use of their work in contexts such as nonprofit media or derivative works. This article reviews criticisms of the Creative Commons project and analyzes the project from the standpoint of copyright's overall policy goals, both domestically and internationally. Because copyright policy seeks to enhance the public supply of information and knowledge, the article concludes …
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act And Non-Infringing Use: Can Mandatory Labeling Of Digital Media Products Keep The Sky From Falling?, Michael P. Matesky Ii
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act And Non-Infringing Use: Can Mandatory Labeling Of Digital Media Products Keep The Sky From Falling?, Michael P. Matesky Ii
Chicago-Kent Law Review
Throughout the history of the United States, copyright law, the fair use doctrine, and other non-infringement doctrines have limited copyright holders' right to prevent certain uses of their works. Nowadays, however, copyright holders can prevent users from engaging in non-infringing use of works on digital media by incorporating technological protection measures, such as an encryption code that prevents a CD from being played on a personal computer. Furthermore, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act prohibits circumvention of a technological protection measure that "effectively controls access" to a copyrighted work. This combination of new technological and legal tools gives copyright holders the …