Law Commons^™

The Normativity Of Copying In Copyright Law, Shyamkrishna Balganesh

All Faculty Scholarship

Not all copying constitutes copyright infringement. Quite independent of fair use, copyright law requires that an act of copying be qualitatively and quantitatively significant enough or “substantially similar” for it to be actionable. Originating in the nineteenth century, and entirely the creation of courts, copyright’s requirement of “substantial similarity” has thus far received little attention as an independently meaningful normative dimension of the copyright entitlement. This Article offers a novel theory for copyright’s substantial-similarity requirement by placing it firmly at the center of the institution and its various goals and purposes. As a common-law-style device that mirrors the functioning of …

Crowdsourcing Indie Movies, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

Crowdsourcing Indie Movies Henry H. Perritt, Jr. Abstract Internet-centered technology developments are revolutionizing the ways in which movies can be made. The use of crowdsourcing to make indie movies is a possibility that has not yet been explored fully, although the use of crowdsourcing to raise money for artistic works is growing. Crowdsourcing can be used for every step of making a movie, increasing the range of collaboration available to creators and reducing capital requirements. The article uses a fictional account of a team of young moviemakers to explain how they can use crowdsourcing for each step of making their …

The Unintended Consequences Of Stanford V. Roche, Ted Hagelin

College of Law - Faculty Scholarship

This article analyzes the recent Supreme Court decision in Stanford v. Roche and concludes that the Court was correct in holding that the Bayh-Dole Act did not change the basic patent law norm that inventors hold initial title to their inventions; but, and more importantly, that the Court was wrong in finding for Roche because there cannot be an assignment of legal title to an invention until the invention is made, a patent application is filed or a patent is issued, and the inventor executes a written patent assignment that identifies the patent application number or patent number associated with …

What Is Transformative? An Explanatory Synthesis Of The Convergence Of Transformation And Predominant Purpose In Copyright Fair Use Law, Michael D. Murray

Law Faculty Publications

ABSTRACT

What is Transformative? An Explanatory Synthesis of the Convergence of Transformation and Predominant Purpose in Copyright Fair Use Law

The transformative test has risen to the top of the agenda of the copyright academic community with no less than two major studies of copyright fair use and the impact of the transformative test released in 2011 by Professors Matthew Sag and Neil Netanel that follow up on three recent comprehensive studies of copyright fair use published since 2008. The lessons learned from these two 2011 statistical studies are significant, in that both studies confirm the importance of the transformative …

Patent Reform And Best Mode: A Signal To The Patent Office Or A Step Toward Elimination?, Ryan G. Vacca

Akron Law Faculty Publications

On September 16, 2011, President Obama signed the America Invents Act (AIA), the first major overhaul of the patent system in nearly sixty years. This article analyzes the recent change to patent law's best mode requirement under the AIA. Before the AIA, patent applicants were required, at the time of submitting their application, to disclose the best mode of carrying out the invention as contemplated by the inventor. A failure to disclose the best mode was a basis for a finding of invalidity of the relevant claims or could render the entire patent unenforceable under the doctrine of inequitable conduct. …

Wisdom Of The Ages Or Dead-Hand Control? Patentable Subject Matter For Diagnostic Methods After In Re Bilski, Rebecca Sue Eisenberg

Law & Economics Working Papers

For a quarter century following the landmark 1980 decision of the Supreme Court in Diamond v. Chakrabarty, inventions and discoveries in biotechnology research appeared to be eligible for patent protection, assuming they meet the statutory standards for patent protection. The Supreme Court reopened the issue of patentable subject matter in 2005 when it granted certiorari in Laboratory Corporation v. Metabolite on the question of whether a method of diagnosing vitamin deficiency by observing a biomarker was unpatentable as a “basic scientific relationship.” Although the Court later dismissed the case without reaching a decision on the merits, since that time the …

The U.S. Proposal For An Intellectual Property Chapter In The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Sean Flynn, Brook Baker, Margot Kaminski, Jimmy Koo

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This article takes advantage of the breach in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiation’s secrecy to contribute to a new and growing collection of published scholarship on leaked proposals for international intellectual property agreements as they are being negotiated. We begin with the general provisions of the agreement, which define its relationship to the multilateral system. We then progress to analysis of some of the most important copyright, patent and data protection, and enforcement sections of the proposal, before providing some concluding observations. Our ultimate conclusion is that the U.S. proposal, if adopted, would upset the current international framework balancing the interests …

The Washington Declaration On Intellectual Property And The Public Interest, Sean Flynn

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

The Washington Declaration on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest was drafted at the Inaugural Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest. The Inaugural Global Congress convened over 180 experts from 32 countries and six continents to re-articulate the public interest dimension in intellectual property law and policy. The Congress adopted a series of specific recommendations for action by a global network of public interest scholars and advocates, which are expressed below.

One Size Does Not Fit All, David Spratt

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Copyright’S Creative Hierarchy In The Performing Arts, Michael W. Carroll

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Copyright law grants authors certain rights of creative control over their works. This Article argues that these rights of creative control are too strong when applied to the performing arts because they fail to take account of the mutual dependence between writers and performers to fully realize the work in performance. This failure is particularly problematic in cases in which the author of a source work, such as a play or a choreographic work, imposes content-based restrictions on how a third party may render the work in performance. This Article then explores how Congress might craft a statutory license to …

The Obligatory Structure Of Copyright Law: Unbundling The Wrong Of Copying, Shyamkrishna Balganesh

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.