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Full-Text Articles in Law
From Bards To Search Engines: Finding What Readers Want From Ancient Times To The World Wide Web, Stephen Maurer
From Bards To Search Engines: Finding What Readers Want From Ancient Times To The World Wide Web, Stephen Maurer
Stephen M. Maurer
Copyright theorists often ask how incentives can be designed to create better books, movies, and art. But this is not the whole story. As the Roman satirist Martial pointed out two thousand years ago, markets routinely ignore good and even excellent works. The insight reminds us that incentives to find content are just as necessary as incentives to make it. Recent social science research explains why markets fail and how timely interventions can save deserving titles from oblivion. This article reviews society’s long struggle to fix the vagaries of search since the invention of literature. We build on this history …
Touching And Concerning Copyright: Real Property Reasoning In Mdy Industries, Inc. V. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc, Molly Shaffer Van Houweling
Touching And Concerning Copyright: Real Property Reasoning In Mdy Industries, Inc. V. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc, Molly Shaffer Van Houweling
Molly Van Houweling
No abstract provided.
Copyright As Contract, Jeffrey L. Harrison
Copyright As Contract, Jeffrey L. Harrison
Jeffrey L Harrison
Copyright is essentially a contract between the author and the public with the government acting as the agent of the public. The consideration received by authors is defined by duration and breadth of exclusivity. The consideration for the public is the creation of a "work" that will be available on a limited basis for the life of the author plus 70 years and then available without limit after that. If there were no transaction costs at all, it would be possible to "pay" authors different amounts of exclusivity. Perhaps a greeting card would get one holiday season of exclusivity, if …
Section By Section Commentary On The Tpp Final Ip Chapter Published 5 November 2015 – Part 2 – Copyright, Kimberlee G. Weatherall
Section By Section Commentary On The Tpp Final Ip Chapter Published 5 November 2015 – Part 2 – Copyright, Kimberlee G. Weatherall
Kimberlee G Weatherall
This note comments on the TPP copyright provisions (final text). It also compares each provision to multilateral and bilateral treaties. The material here is necessarily preliminary and does not purport to be complete. It is published on the basis that it may assist others’ analysis and commentary
Advocacy In Ip Litigation In The Supreme Court: A Presentation By Justice Marshall Rothstein Of The Supreme Court Of Canada, Marshall Rothstein, David Vaver
Advocacy In Ip Litigation In The Supreme Court: A Presentation By Justice Marshall Rothstein Of The Supreme Court Of Canada, Marshall Rothstein, David Vaver
David Vaver
The Honourable Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein of the Supreme Court of Canada shares his thoughts regarding the five important copyright cases (known as the “Copyright Pentalogy”) that he took part in deciding earlier this year.
Copyright Law, David Vaver
Copyright Law, David Vaver
David Vaver
The explosive growth in communication technologies has put enormous strains on the law, no more so than on the law of copyright. In this book, David Vaver examines how the modern law of copyright and moral rights is coping with the new technologies. He provides a detailed, authoritative analysis of the most recent changes to the Copyright Act and their impact on copyright holders and users, including educational institutions, libraries, and archives. Copyright Law, like its companion volume Intellectual Property Law by the same author, is written in a lively non-technical style. It examines in greater depth than the earlier …
Copyright Exceptions As Users’ Rights? An Empirical Critique, Emily Hudson, Giuseppina D'Agostino
Copyright Exceptions As Users’ Rights? An Empirical Critique, Emily Hudson, Giuseppina D'Agostino
Giuseppina D'Agostino
Dr. Emily Hudson, the Career Development Fellow in Intellectual Property Law at the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre at the University of Oxford, questions the prevailing legal and academic perceptions of the CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada (2004 SCC 13) judgment.
Contract Lex Rex : Towards Copyright Contract's Lex Specialis, Giuseppina D'Agostino
Contract Lex Rex : Towards Copyright Contract's Lex Specialis, Giuseppina D'Agostino
Giuseppina D'Agostino
No abstract provided.
Literature’S Idea-Expression Distinction: Drawing A Line With Distinctive Elements Of Alternate Worlds, Joshua Jeng
Literature’S Idea-Expression Distinction: Drawing A Line With Distinctive Elements Of Alternate Worlds, Joshua Jeng
Joshua Jeng
The line between ideas and expressions in copyright law has never been particularly clear. We want to protect what authors create so that they are motivated to create more, but we want broad concepts to remain free so that others may produce even more works. The distinction concept and an author's take on a concept has always been very difficult to define, even among legal scholars, and has largely remained misunderstood by the average author. However, as derivative works increase in prevalence and economic importance, the need for workable framework for understanding copyright that the lay author can understand is …
National Treatment, National Interest And The Public Domain, Margaret Ann Wilkinson
National Treatment, National Interest And The Public Domain, Margaret Ann Wilkinson
Margaret Ann Wilkinson
The concept of the "public domain" is a powerful rhetorical element in he policy debates involving intellectual property. But is it a stable and useful concept for analyzing information issues? Can the notion of the public domain and the concept of the information commons be separated? Is the notion of the public domain merely another way of expressing the public interest? This paper canvassed the literature, seeking a theoretically consistent definition for public domain that was equally applicable across the copyright, trademark and patent spheres. The analysis demonstrated that there is no such construct. The paper also reviews the findings …
Intellectual Property Rights Management In Small And Medium Size Social Enterprise In Australia, Francina Cantatore, Elizabeth Spencer
Intellectual Property Rights Management In Small And Medium Size Social Enterprise In Australia, Francina Cantatore, Elizabeth Spencer
Francina Cantatore
This paper identifies the role and significance of Intellectual Property (IP) management in small and medium-sized social enterprises (SMSEs) and aims to address a gap in the available literature dealing with IP use and management in social enterprise. The findings are based on the results of a qualitative study undertaken with Australian SMSEs, in the form of in-depth semi-structured interviews. The research identifies how SMSEs view and manage their IP rights, and the significance of these rights in the organisation. The findings suggest that there is a significant lack of IP rights management strategies for protection of IP assets such …
A Fresh Look At Tests For Nonliteral Copyright Infringement, Pamela Samuelson
A Fresh Look At Tests For Nonliteral Copyright Infringement, Pamela Samuelson
Pamela Samuelson
Determining whether a copyright has been infringed is often straightforward in cases involving verbatim copying or slavish imitation. But when there are no literal similarities between the works at issue, ruling on infringement claims becomes more difficult. The Second and Ninth Circuits have developed five similar yet distinct tests for judging nonliteral copyright infringement. This Essay argues that each of these tests is flawed and that courts have generally failed to provide clear guidance about which test to apply in which kinds of cases. This Essay offers seven specific strategies to improve the analysis of nonliteral infringements. Courts should do …
Brief Of Amicus Curiae Academic Authors And Legal Scholars In Support Of Defendants Appellees And Affirmance, Nos. 12-14676-Ff, 12-15147-Ff (April 25, 2013), David R. Hansen, Peter A. Jazsi, Pamela Samuelson, Jason Schultz, Rebecca Tushnet
Brief Of Amicus Curiae Academic Authors And Legal Scholars In Support Of Defendants Appellees And Affirmance, Nos. 12-14676-Ff, 12-15147-Ff (April 25, 2013), David R. Hansen, Peter A. Jazsi, Pamela Samuelson, Jason Schultz, Rebecca Tushnet
Pamela Samuelson
No abstract provided.
A Preliminary Measure: Retroactive Copyright Term Reduction And The Takings Clause, Eugene V. Beliy
A Preliminary Measure: Retroactive Copyright Term Reduction And The Takings Clause, Eugene V. Beliy
Eugene V Beliy
The current duration of a copyright term under U.S. law is an astounding life of the author plus 70 years. This term length is a product of a series of retroactive extensions enacted by Congress. It is well settled that the term can be retroactively extended--but can it be retroactively reduced? Would Congress violate the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause if it retroactively reduced copyright term without providing just compensation? This paper argues that it would not. First, this paper frames the discussion by analyzing the policy behind Copyright Law and term length. Second, this paper identifies a potential Takings Clause …
Technological Neutrality: (Pre)Serving The Purposes Of Copyright Law, Carys J. Craig
Technological Neutrality: (Pre)Serving The Purposes Of Copyright Law, Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
No abstract provided.
Locking Out Lawful Users: Fair Dealing And Anti-Circumvention In Bill C-32, Carys J. Craig
Locking Out Lawful Users: Fair Dealing And Anti-Circumvention In Bill C-32, Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
This chapter examines the potential impact of the proposed fair dealing and anti-circumvention provisions in Canada’s most recent copyright reform bill, Bill C-32. I suggest that the minimal expansion of the fair dealing defence to cover “new” purposes, as well as the addition of a few new user exceptions, while welcome, is insufficient to ensure the breadth of user defences that the copyright balance demands. Moreover, the extensive protection of technological protection measures without any regard for lawful uses of copyright material has the potential to effectively eviscerate fair dealing in the digital age. Many acts permitted in relation to …
Digital Locks And The Fate Of Fair Dealing In Canada: In Pursuit Of 'Prescriptive Parallelism', Carys J. Craig
Digital Locks And The Fate Of Fair Dealing In Canada: In Pursuit Of 'Prescriptive Parallelism', Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
The enactment of anti-circumvention laws in Canada appears imminent and all but inevitable. This article considers the threats posed by technical protection measures and anti-circumvention laws to fair dealing and other lawful uses of protected works, and so to the copyright system more generally. The argument adopts, as its normative starting point, the principle of "prescriptive parallelism" according to which the traditional copyright balance of rights and exceptions should be preserved in the digital environment. Looking to the experiences of other nations, the article explores potential routes towards reconciling technical protection measures with copyright limits, and maintaining a substantive continuity …
The Changing Face Of Fair Dealing In Canadian Copyright Law: A Proposal For Legislative Reform, Carys J. Craig
The Changing Face Of Fair Dealing In Canadian Copyright Law: A Proposal For Legislative Reform, Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
No abstract provided.
Reconstructing The Author-Self: Some Feminist Lessons For Copyright Law, Carys J. Craig
Reconstructing The Author-Self: Some Feminist Lessons For Copyright Law, Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
Copyright law currently forces all intellectual production into a doctrinal model shaped by individualistic assumptions about the authorial ideal. To the extent that the truly original author-owner is conceptualized as an individual (and not a function or fiction), he depends upon Enlightenment ideals of individuation, detachment, and unity. A competing view of the author sees her as necessarily engaged in a process of adaptation, translation and recombination. This version of authorship coheres with a view of the individual as socially constituted: her expression is the result of the complex variety of texts and discourses that she encounters (and by which …
Introduction - Copyright, Communication & Culture: Towards A Relational Theory Of Copyright Law, Carys J. Craig
Introduction - Copyright, Communication & Culture: Towards A Relational Theory Of Copyright Law, Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
In this provocative book, Carys Craig challenges the assumptions of possessive individualism embedded in modern day copyright law, arguing that the dominant conception of copyright as private property fails to adequately reflect the realities of cultural creativity. Employing both theoretical argument and doctrinal analysis, including the novel use of feminist theory, the author explores how the assumptions of modern copyright result in law that frequently restricts the kinds of expressive activities it ought to encourage. In contrast, Carys Craig proposes a relational theory of copyright based on a dialogic account of authorship, and guided by the public interest in a …
Putting The Community In Communication: Dissolving The Conflict Between Freedom Of Expression And Copyright, Carys Craig
Putting The Community In Communication: Dissolving The Conflict Between Freedom Of Expression And Copyright, Carys Craig
Carys Craig
This paper is concerned with the relationship between freedom of expression and copyright law — and, more specifically, with what this relationship reveals about the nature and purpose of the copyright interest. I argue that the source of the apparent conflict between copyright and free expression is the prevailing characterization of both as individual rights vested in the liberal subject. The key to dissolving the conflict lies in the recognition of the social values that these rights affirm: the value that we attach to communication, to interaction between members of society and to participation in a social dialogue. If copyright …
The Canadian Public Domain: What, Where, And To What End?, Carys Craig
The Canadian Public Domain: What, Where, And To What End?, Carys Craig
Carys Craig
No abstract provided.
The Evolution Of Originality In Canadian Copyright Law: Authorship, Reward And The Public Interest, Carys J. Craig
The Evolution Of Originality In Canadian Copyright Law: Authorship, Reward And The Public Interest, Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
Originality is a foundational concept in copyright law: it defines the works to which copyright attaches and delineates the scope of protection they receive. The Supreme Court of Canada, in its recent ruling in CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada, appears to have settled the conflict between creativity and sweat-of-the-brow standards for originality, espousing a compromise position requiring "skill and judgment." In this paper, the author aims to locate the evolution of the originality doctrine within the context of a foundational shift in Canadian copyright theory. When "benefiting authors" was copyright's only recognized purpose, originality was determined …
Technological Neutrality: (Pre)Serving The Purposes Of Copyright Law, Carys J. Craig
Technological Neutrality: (Pre)Serving The Purposes Of Copyright Law, Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
In the realm of law, neutrality is widely hailed as a fundamental principle of fairness, justice and equity; it is also, however, widely criticized as a myth that too often obscures the inevitable reality of perspective, interest or agenda.The principle of technological neutrality, recently articulated by the Supreme Court of Canada when applying copyright law to online activities, seems similarly fundamental in the copyright realm — and equally mythical. In what is now dubbed the Supreme Court’s “Copyright Pentalogy” — five copyright judgments released concurrently by the Court in June 2012 — the unprecedented importance accorded by the Court to …
What Is Feminist About Open Access?: A Relational Approach To Copyright In The Academy, Carys J. Craig, Joseph F. Turcotte, Rosemary J. Coombe
What Is Feminist About Open Access?: A Relational Approach To Copyright In The Academy, Carys J. Craig, Joseph F. Turcotte, Rosemary J. Coombe
Carys Craig
In a context of great technological and social change, existing intellectual property regimes such as copyright must contend with parallel forms of ownership and distribution. Proponents of open access question and undermine the paradigm of exclusivity central to traditional copyright law, thereby fundamentally challenging its ownership structures and the publishing practices these support. In this essay, we attempt to show what it is about the open access endeavour that resonates with a feminist theory of law and society - in other words, we consider what is “feminist” about open access. First, we provide an overview of a relational feminist critique …
Resisting "Sweat" And Refusing Feist: Rethinking Originality After Cch, Carys J. Craig
Resisting "Sweat" And Refusing Feist: Rethinking Originality After Cch, Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
In CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada ostensibly settled the debate between the "sweat school" and the "creativity school" regarding the meaning of copyright's originality requirement. While rejecting a labour-based formulation of the originality standard, the Supreme Court also refused to adopt the "minimal degree of creativity" test established by the U.S. Supreme Court in the famous Feist case. The appropriate threshold for originality, according to the Supreme Court of Canada, "falls between these two extremes" and requires "an exercise of skill and judgment." This paper explores the significance of the "skill …
Locke, Labour, And Limiting The Author’S Right: A Warning Against A Lockean Approach To Copyright Law, Carys J. Craig
Locke, Labour, And Limiting The Author’S Right: A Warning Against A Lockean Approach To Copyright Law, Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
This paper criticizes a Lockean approach to copyright, which sees an author’s right as the natural entitlement to the fruits of her labour. The author’s contention is that the Lockean account mistakenly finds the justification for copyright in the relationship between an author and her work, rather than the persistent presence of this labour-desert rationale in Canadian copyright rhetoric necessarily privileges the interests of the private rights-bearer over the public interest, and so threatens the public policy goals that copyright is intended to further. The author attacks the Lockean copyright theory from two directions. First, she examines the extent to …
Feminist Aesthetics And Copyright Law: Genius, Value, And Gendered Visions Of The Creative Self, Carys J. Craig
Feminist Aesthetics And Copyright Law: Genius, Value, And Gendered Visions Of The Creative Self, Carys J. Craig
Carys Craig
Copyright law is fundamentally concerned with the value of cultural works — both the recognition and the creation of this value. Yet it is seldom acknowledged that copyright law makes or requires any value judgment in the sense of an aesthetic evaluation of copyright’s subject matter. Indeed, it is often emphasized that copyright protects original works of authorship regardless of their quality or merit. That copyright protection demands the satisfaction of only the most minimal of qualitative standards does not, however, dispose of the larger claim that forms the basis of this chapter: our copyright system is dominated by a …
Copyright, Communication And Culture: Towards A Relational Theory Of Copyright Law, Carys Craig
Copyright, Communication And Culture: Towards A Relational Theory Of Copyright Law, Carys Craig
Carys Craig
In this provocative book, Carys Craig challenges the assumptions of possessive individualism embedded in modern day copyright law, arguing that the dominant conception of copyright as private property fails to adequately reflect the realities of cultural creativity. Employing both theoretical argument and doctrinal analysis, including the novel use of feminist theory, the author explores how the assumptions of modern copyright result in law that frequently restricts the kinds of expressive activities it ought to encourage. In contrast, Carys Craig proposes a relational theory of copyright based on a dialogic account of authorship, and guided by the public interest in a …
Copyright: Cases And Commentary On The Canadian And International Law, Second Edition, Barry Sookman, Steven Mason, Carys Craig
Copyright: Cases And Commentary On The Canadian And International Law, Second Edition, Barry Sookman, Steven Mason, Carys Craig
Carys Craig
Copyright law grants exclusive rights for limited terms to the authors of musical, literary, dramatic and artistic works. With the shift towards an information economy and the rapid development of digital technologies, copyright is fast becoming one of the most dynamic, critical and controversial areas of Canadian law and policy. This casebook presents extracts from the leading cases from both Canadian and international jurisprudence to illustrate the legal concepts, doctrinal evolution and current approaches to copyright issues. The revised second edition reflects the important case law and statutory amendments that have taken place over the past five years, including the …