Law Commons^™

An Elegy For Greg Ham: Copyright Law, The Kookaburra Case, And Remix Culture, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

The ‘Kookaburra’ case was a tragic and controversial copyright dispute, highlighting the need for copyright law reform by the Australian Parliament. In the Kookaburra case, a copyright action was brought by Larrikin Records against Men at Work’s song ‘Down Under’, alleging copyright infringement of the ‘Kookaburra’ song composed by Marion Sinclair. The dispute raised a host of doctrinal matters. There was disquiet over the length of the copyright term. There were fierce contests as to the copyright ownership of the ‘Kookaburra’ song. The litigation raised questions about copyright infringement and substantiality – particularly in relation to musical works. The ‘Kookaburra’ …

23andme Inc.: Patent Law And Lifestyle Genetics, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

The venture, 23andMe Inc., raises a host of issues in respect of patent law, policy, and practice in respect of lifestyle genetics and personalised medicine. The company observes: ‘We recognize that the availability of personal genetic information raises important issues at the nexus of ethics, law, and public policy’. 23andMe Inc. has tested the boundaries of patent law, with its patent applications, which cut across information technology, medicine, and biotechnology. The company’s research raises fundamental issues about patentability, especially in light of the litigation in Bilski v. Kappos, Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories Inc. and Association for Molecular Pathology …

An Assessment Of The Effects Of Desertification In Yobe State, Nigeria, Jibril Musa Phd

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Desertification is one of the most serious environmental and socio-economic problems of our time. Desertification describes circumstances of land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from the climatic variation and human activities. The fundamental goal of this thesis was to assess the effects of desertification in Yobe State, Nigeria. The present threat of desertification in the sahel has reached an alarming stage where crops cultivation and animal rearing/grazing are no more productive, soil has lost its nutrient/fertility, various infrastructure had given way because of windstorm from the neighbouring Niger Republic and sand dunes had taken over. The …

Using Remote Sensing Data To Improve Rice Production In Kutigi, Niger State, Nigeria, Jibril Musa Phd, M B. Yunusa

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

This research work looked in the used of Remote Sensing to improve Agricultural production in Kutigi, Niger State. The aim of the study is to use remote sensing to improve rice farming activities in Kutigi, Niger State. It is very important to identify such methods to improve Agricultural production because experts are always interested in new researches and findings to better the standard of living in any environment. In view of this, Remotely-sensed data could be used or employed to elevate most of these agricultural problems in Kutigi through the following objectives: Using Landsat imagery to assess the present landuse …

The U.S. Patent Office’S Proposed Fees Under The America Invents Act—Part I: The Scope Of The Office’S Fee-Setting Authority, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

This two-part article discusses the Patent and Trademark Office’s recent proposed rulemaking setting new patent user fees. In Part I the author argues that the PTO can raise fees in accordance with its aggregate costs but lacks authority to set national patent policies, or to skew certain fees to discourage or encourage a particular service. The author also asserts that the America Invents Act does not vest with the PTO discretion to set the level of its operating reserve – a determination reserved solely for congressional appropriations. In an upcoming Part II, the author will discuss specific fees and their …

Pruning The European Intellectual Property Tree - In Search Of Common Principles And Roots, Severine Dusollier

Severine Dusollier

The European Union knows a multiplicity of IP rights, from classical ones (copyright, patent, trademark or design) to more marginal ones, in terms of economic sectors concerned (rights in database, in plant varieties, in semiconductors, in geographical indications). This paper aims at identifying and assessing the existing similarities or common principles in the intellectual property rights in the European Union. Despite their apparent diverging functions, subject matter and scope of protection, copyright, trademark, patent and the other intellectual property rights share at least the fact that they belong to a set of rules granting some exclusive rights in intangible assets, …

Democracia E Biotecnologia: Argumentos Para A Construção De Um Discurso Pautado Na Agência Humana Como Vetor Transformador Da Realidade, Carolina Altoé Velasco

Carolina Altoé Velasco

O artigo objetiva demonstrar que os processos biotecnológico e democrático têm em comum a interferência da agência humana como vetor transformador de suas realidades. Utiliza-se como marco teórico-metodológico as obras de Guillermo O’Donnell e Adela Cortina. Guillermo O’Donnell reconhece o impacto motivado pela tecnologia e globalização na sociedade e a agência humana como fomentadora do processo democrático. Já Adela Cortina considera a pessoa (contemplada por sujeito autônomo e solidário) a medida da democracia e esta como forma de vida. A eleição de Cortina para travar um diálogo com o pensamento de O’Donnell se dá em razão da abordagem feita a …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: Remix Culture, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSIn its issues paper, the Australian Law Reform Commission asks a number of inter-connected questions about transformative use, fair dealing, and fair use:Transformative useQuestion 14. How are copyright materials being used in transformative and collaborative ways—for example, in ‘sampling’, ‘remixes’ and ‘mashups’. For what purposes—for example, commercial purposes, in creating cultural works or as individual self-expression?Question 15. Should the use of copyright materials in transformative uses be more freely permitted? Should the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be amended to provide that transformative use does not constitute an infringement of copyright? If so, how should such an exception be framed?Question 16. …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: 3d Printing, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSThe Australian Law Reform Commission poses a number of questions on the defence of fair use in Copyright and the Digital Economy.Question 52. Should the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be amended to include a broad, flexible exception? If so, how should this exception be framed? For example, should such an exception be based on ‘fairness’, ‘reasonableness’ or something else? Question 53. Should such a new exception replace all or some existing exceptions or should it be in addition to existing exceptions?The case study of 3D printing highlights how Australia would benefit from a defence of fair use.Recommendation 1 The narrow, …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: Disability Rights, Matthew Rimmer Dr

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 1 The Australian Government should take legislative action to implement Article 30 (3) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006, which provides that ‘States Parties shall take all appropriate steps, in accordance with international law, to ensure that laws protecting intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials’. This will involve revising the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) – and addressing any direct or indirect disability discrimination.

Recommendation 2 The Australian Law Reform Commission should consider revising the Copyright Act 1968 …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: International Law, Matthew Rimmer Dr

Matthew Rimmer

The Australian Law Reform Commission poses a question in respect of international law in the issues paper on Copyright and the Digital Economy.Question 1. The ALRC is interested in evidence of how Australia’s copyright law is affecting participation in the digital economy. For example, is there evidence about how copyright law: a. affects the ability of creators to earn a living, including through access to new revenue streams and new digital goods and services; b. affects the introduction of new or innovative business models; c. imposes unnecessary costs or inefficiencies on creators or those wanting to access or make use …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: Consumer Rights, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSThe Australian Law Reform Commission poses a number of inter-related questions about copyright law, personal use, consumer rights, and cloud computing:Cloud computingQuestion 5. Is Australian copyright law impeding the development or delivery of cloud computing services?Question 6. Should exceptions in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be amended, or new exceptions created, to account for new cloud computing services, and if so, how?Copying for private useQuestion 7. Should the copying of legally acquired copyright material, including broadcast material, for private and domestic use be more freely permitted?Question 8. The format shifting exceptions in the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) allow users to …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: Moral Rights, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSThe Australian Law Reform Commission poses a question in respect of moral rights in the issues paper on Copyright and the Digital Economy.Question 18. The Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) provides authors with three ‘moral rights’: a right of attribution; a right against false attribution; and a right of integrity. What amendments to provisions of the Act dealing with moral rights may be desirable to respond to new exceptions allowing transformative or collaborative uses of copyright material?In response, I would emphasize a number of themes in respect of moral rights.Recommendation 1 There is a need for the Australian Law Reform Commission …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: The Copyright Term And Orphan Works, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSThe Australian Law Reform Commission asks a number of questions in respect of copyright law and orphan works:Question 23. How does the legal treatment of orphan works affect the use, access to and dissemination of copyright works in Australia?Question 24. Should the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be amended to create a new exception or collective licensing scheme for use of orphan works? How should such an exception or collective licensing scheme be framed?In response, I would make the following recommendations on copyright term and copyright duration; old copyright works; orphan works; and copyfraud:Recommendation 1 The Australian Government should withdraw from …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: The Progress Of Science, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

RECOMMENDATIONSThe Australian Law Reform Commission poses a number of questions about copyright law and databases in its issues paper on Copyright and the Digital Economy:Data and text miningQuestion 25. Are uses of data and text mining tools being impeded by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)? What evidence, if any, is there of the value of data mining to the digital economy?Question 26. Should the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) be amended to provide for an exception for the use of copyright material for text, data mining and other analytical software? If so, how should this exception be framed?Question 27. Are there …

Response To The Draft National Ipr Strategy Prepared By The Sectoral Innovation Council On Ipr, Maurya Vijay Chandra

Maurya Vijay Chandra

It is heartening to see the Draft National IPR Strategy out for consultation. This indeed is a step in the right direction and the efforts on all concerned and the sincerity of the government of India needs to be commended. We work on IPR issues with small and micro-entrepreneurs (mainly in FMCG, Hospitality, Infrastructure, Information Technology and Entertainment sectors) and think it appropriate to submit our reflections to you for consideration.

Variations In Climatic Parameters And Food Crop Yields: Implications On Food Security In Benue State, Nigeria., Emmanuel Adamgbe, Fanan Ujoh

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Agricultural production in Nigeria like in other developing countries is highly vulnerable to variations in climatic parameters which may have inverse or direct effect on the performance of food crops. This paper examines the patterns and trends of the variations in the climatic parameters and the implications of such variations on efficient yield rates of some food crops in Benue State using data on climatic variables (rainfall, temperature, sunshine) and the yield of some crops per hectare for 25 years (1986-2010). Data on the climatic variables were collected from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, AirForce Base, Makurdi while the data on …

Patents For Humanity, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

This article evaluates two policy initiatives by the United States Government to address access to essential medicines—Priority Review vouchers and “Patents for Humanity”. Such proposals are aimed at speeding up the regulatory review of inventions with humanitarian uses and applications by the United States Food and Drug Administration, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It is argued that such measures fall short of international standards and norms established by the World Intellectual Property Organization Development Agenda 2007; the World Trade Organization’s Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health 2001 and the WTO General Council Decision of …

A Submission To The New Zealand Government On The Plain Packaging Of Tobacco Products, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThis submission draws upon a number of pieces of research and policy papers on the plain packaging of tobacco products including:1. Becky Freeman, Simon Chapman, and Matthew Rimmer, 'The Case for the Plain Packaging of Tobacco Products' (2008) 103 (4) Addiction 580-590.2. Matthew Rimmer, 'A Submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee on the Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Bill (Cth)', September 2011, https://senate.aph.gov.au/submissions/comittees/viewdocument.aspx?id=dabfcd75-9807-493f-bc99-4a7506bf493b3A. Matthew Rimmer, 'Tobacco's Mad Men Threaten Public Health', The Conversation, 23 September 2011, http://theconversation.edu.au/tobaccos-mad-men-threaten-public-health-34503B. Matthew Rimmer, 'Big Tobacco's Box Fetish: Plain Packaging at the High Court', The Conversation, 20 April 2012, https://theconversation.edu.au/big-tobaccos-box-fetish-plain-packaging-at-the-high-court-65183C. Matthew …

The America Invents Act May Be Constitutionally Infirm If It Repeals The Bar Against Patenting After Secret Commercial Use, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

No abstract provided.

Transparencia Y Anticorrupción, Primera Llamada De Peña, Norma E. Pimentel

Norma E Pimentel

No abstract provided.

Las Acciones De Clase En La Vision De La Corte Suprema De Justicia De La Nacion., Gabriel Martinez Medrano

Gabriel Martinez Medrano

Estas líneas son mis primeras reflexiones sobre el fallo de la CORTE SUPREMA (Argentina) in re Cavalieri, en el cual se denegó a una asociación de defensa de consumidores la legitimación activa para pretender extender la condena reclamada por Cavalieri al resto de consumidores de una empresa de medicina prepaga.

Stolen Valor And The First Amendment: Does Trademark Infringement Law Leave Congress An Opening?, Susan Richey, John M. Greabe

John M Greabe

This paper elaborates an argument the authors presented in an amicus brief filed in United States v. Alvarez, the "Stolen Valor" case. The paper contends that Congress could constitutionally protect the Congressional Medal of Honor as a collective membership mark by means of trademark infringement legislation.

It Pricing: Copyright Law, Consumer Rights, And Competition Policy. A Submission To The House Of Representatives Standing Committee On Infrastructure And Communications Inquiry Into It Pricing, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

Justice Lionel Murphy‘Copyright is being used to manipulate the Australian market.’Justice Michael Kirby‘In effect, and apparently intentionally, those [technological] restrictions reduce global market competition. They inhibit rights ordinarily acquired by Australian owners of chattels to use and adapt the same, once acquired, to their advantage and for their use as they see fit.’US Attorney-General Eric Holder‘As a result of this alleged conspiracy, we believe that consumers paid millions of dollars more for some of the most popular titles.’Justice Denise Coates‘There can be no denying the importance of books and authors in the quest for human knowledge and creative expression, and …

Challenges In Public And Private Domain Will Shape The Future Of Intellectual Property, Severin De Wit

Severin de Wit

Market failures, troubled access to medicine, impediments to free flow of information, copyright overextension, digital right protection, overkill and patents stifling rather than stimulating innovation are just a few of the disparaging themes around intellectual property. The main drives behind changes in IPR systems are growing discontent with the right to exclude, which is essential to most IPR systems, the diversity of IP policies between the West and the Developing countries, as well as digitalisation of information. The future of IPR will be shaped more by its users than by international IP legislative init iatives. This think piece explores the …

Time Shifting In A Networked Digital World: Optus Tv Now And Copyright In The Cloud, Sampsung Xiaoxiang Shi

xiaoxiang shi

This article examines copyright principles applied in a recent Australian case concerning the legality of a consumer cloud computing service - “TV Now” - a free to air TV recording service based on the Internet. It enabled a subscriber to record a TV broadcast and then watch the broadcast later at a more convenient time. Similar decisions made by the courts in Singapore and the United States have also been considered. The ultimate purpose of this article is to explore how copyright law has been struggling to adapte to cope with the advent of new technologies for time shifting of …

Tolerance Is Law: Remixing Homage Parodying Plagiarism, Mathias Klang, Jan Nolin

Mathias Klang

Three centuries have passed since copyright law was developed to stimulate creativity and promote learning. The fundamental principles still apply, despite radical developments in the technology of production and distribution of cultural material. In particular the last decades’ developments and adoption of ICTs have drastically lowered barriers, which previously prevented entry into the production and distribution side of the cultural marketplace, and led to a widening of the base at which cultural production occurs and is disseminated. Additionally, digitalisation has made it economically and technically feasible for users to appropriate and manipulate earlier works as method of production. The renegotiation …

This Sporting Life: Copyright Law And Consumer Rights, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

When too much sport is not enoughH.G. Nelson and Roy SlavenSport occupies an anomalous position under Australian copyright law. A footballer like Gary Ablett Junior is not an author under copyright law. A sporting spectacle like the AFL Grand Final or the State of Origin is not a dramatic work. Sporting events are protected somewhat peripherally as television broadcasts under Australian copyright law. Nonetheless, sports organizations have engaged in special pleading in respect of intellectual property law. This has been particularly evident in the litigation between Optus, the National Rugby League, and the Australian Football League.

Acta: The Policy Implications For India, Maurya Vijay Chandra, Meenu Chandra

Maurya Vijay Chandra

The official unveiling of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in 2010 triggered a wave of concern for developing countries, especially in respect of ACTA's emphasis on building a stronger international framework in the form of a TRIPs plus enforcement against trademark counterfeiting. ACTA has been negotiated by Australia, Canada, the EU and its 27 Member States, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the Uruted States. All countries have signed ACTA except for Switzerland and Mexico. The legal framework of ACTA embodies civil and criminal enforcement, border measures as well as enforcement issues related to the digital …

Viral Open Source: Competition Vs. Synergy, Michal Gal

Michal Gal

The creation of free and open source software (FOSS) through social networks has been celebrated as one of the most interesting and inspiring developments of the information age. The main legal platform selected for facilitating this collaborative creation is the GNU General Public License (GPL). Software released under the GPL enables anyone to use, modify, and distribute the code. Yet, these rights are contingent upon virality: every copy or work based on the original code must also be subject to such terms and conditions. This article analyzes the interesting and intricate effects of virality on welfare and innovation. Virality increases …