Law Commons^™

All The Internet's A Stage: Reform Of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act And Broadway's Bootleg Problem, Emma K. Wimberly

Georgia Law Review

Broadway is the cultural epicenter of theatre arts. While Broadway performances are internationally known and hugely profitable, they remain inaccessible to a significant number of fans. The inability to bear the increasing costs of travel, lodging, and tickets leads many fans to turn to bootlegs. Bootlegs are illegal recordings of live performances. They are widely viewed and shared online, and uploaders purposefully work to obscure the illegality of these recordings, allowing them to evade tools designed to combat copyright infringement.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), enacted in 1998, amended U.S. copyright law to attempt to prevent digital copyright infringement. …

Give Starving Artists A Piece Of The Ip Pie: Making Room At The Table For Performers’ Rights, Meagan A. Sharp

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Creators protect their valuable intellectual property interests through copyright. Historically, stage performers struggled to secure copyright ownership in their performances within a larger production. As the theatre landscape changes, however, trends indicate that producers will increasingly rely on performers to develop characters and shows. This reliance could prove to be an exploitative practice if performers do not receive additional compensation for their part in creating successful works. This Note first examines the meanings of authorship, fixation, and control under the Copyright Act of 1976, then widens its lens to consider alternate interpretations of these technical terms in light of an …

From America Online To America, Online: Reassessing Section 230 Immunity In A New Internet Landscape, Madeleine E. Blair

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

In 1996, Congress passed the Communications Decency Act, a body of legislation aimed at regulating a nascent internet. Section 230 of the Act has become a subject of contention on both sides of the political aisle due to an immunity provision in the law barring private actions against online service providers for the conduct of those services’ users. Few lawsuits against online entities have survived this immunity provision. But two successful cases, Lemmon v. Snap, Inc. and A.M. v. Omegle.com, LLC, have used a products liability theory to overcome the limitation.

This Note examines Section 230 in light of these …

Intellectual Heirs Property: Why Certain Musical Copyrights Should Be Included In The Heirs Property Reform Movement, Austin Weatherly

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

The modern heirs property reform movement seeks to ameliorate the issues caused by the procedures governing the inheritance of real property from landowners who die intestate. This procedure can have a negative impact on heirs and the value of their inherited property. The reform movement, as it stands, only seeks to resolve the issues created by these procedures in the real property context. The rhetorical basis for the modern heirs property reform movement largely focuses on closing the racial wealth gap in the United States and slowing the wealth bleed from one black generation to the next. Many of the …

Protecting The Public Domain And The Right To Use Copyrighted Works: Four Decades Of The Eleventh Circuit’S Copyright Law Jurisprudence, David E. Shipley

Scholarly Works

This article is about the importance of the copyright law jurisprudence from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. This appellate court turns 40 in 2021, and it has rendered many influential copyright law decisions in the last four decades. Its body of work is impressive. This article discusses the court’s important decisions in the following areas: the originality standard; the application of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Feist decision to compilations, directories, computer software, architectural works, and other creative works like movies, photographs, and characters; copyright protection for unfixed works; the scope of the government edicts doctrine; and, …

Boss Battle: Twitch Vs Proposed Amendments To The Knowledge Standard Under The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Zachary Messick

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), indirect theories of liability such as vicarious liability and contributory infringement have been inconsistently applied, leading the Copyright Office to recommend lowering the knowledge standard and increasing potential liability for Online Service Providers (OSPs). In this note, I will discuss the histories of vicarious liability and contributory infringement, which demonstrate that courts have correctly applied the standards under the DMCA. Further, through a case-study of Twitch, an up-and-coming streaming website, I will discuss how the proposed amendments drive against the policies underlying the indirect theories of liability and would destroy OSPs like Twitch. …

Design On Someone Else's Dime: The Profiteering Of Interior Designer's Works From A Lack Of Rights In The Modern Era, Kim Carlson

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Rooms once viewed as utilitarian in nature- places to work in, sleep in, or cook in- have gone through a dramatic transformation. Now, people view these rooms as an outward reflection of their style. In the last few decades, people’s eagerness to renovate these rooms exploded. As a result, home designer shows soared in popularity, garnering millions of views. Consumers flocked to different media forms and stores in search of the latest paint and furniture trends. The heightened demand, coupled with prevailing social media marketing, forced interior designers to become innovative in creating and advertising their services. While the increased …

Exit Stage, Enter Streaming: Copyright Of The Theatrical Stage Design Elements In A Changing Theater Industry, Mark Bailey

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Due to the pandemic, the entire theatre industry shut down nearly overnight in March of 2020. Thousands of talented professionals were out of work, costing individuals and the economy billions of dollars in the first month alone. Within a month of this industry wide halt, eighty theatres around the country began providing content to audiences around the country via streaming services. Streaming theatre fully took hold when Hamilton on Disney+ became the most widely watched piece of entertainment nationwide in the month of July. Within a few short months, an industry based completely around large gatherings shifted to a digital …

From Blurred Lines To Blurred Law: An Assessment Of The Possible Implications Of "Williams V. Gaye" In Copyright Law, Hannah Patton

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

In December 2018, panic spread throughout the music industry in light of headlines reporting that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s verdict that the 2013 hit song “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams infringed Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up,” released in 1977. In addition to the tremendous $5.3 million award ordered for the Gaye estate, the Blurred Lines Case resulted in fear that the holding could create precedent for allowing the “style” or “groove” of a song to be considered subject to copyright. Since then, industry insiders, lawyers, and commentators have feared …

John Hemings' Monticello And Poplar Forest, J. Wesley Giglio

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

A discussion of John Hemings' creative architectural contributions to Monticello and Poplar Forest, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Estates. Author argues that Hemings, an enslaved person and a master carpenter, made vital and creative contributions to the building of the two estates which merit legal recognition. Author discusses how legal ideas about moral rights and statutory protections in the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act could be adapted to cure a historica and representative injustice.

The Best Laid Plans: How Dmca Sec. 1201 Went Awry, Smothering Competition And Creating Giants,And Where We Go Now, Tyler Fabbri

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act with the express intention of protecting the intellectual property of copyright holders from the growing threats of digital piracy and information sharing brought about by an increasingly digital society.

Among the law’s many provisions is §1201, which works to prohibit circumnavigation of digital protections copyright holders may put on protected works—in essence, innovators or competitors would be unable to develop technology or programs to bypass security measures put into place by primary creators. While this provision seems facially reasonable, it has effectively served as a means to quash adversarial interoperability.

Adversarial …

Cross-Jurisdictional Analysis Of Damage Awards In Copyright Infringement Cases, Ioana Vasiu, Lucian Vasiu

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Copyright infringement is a widespread phenomenon that produces massive financial losses to stakeholders. Based on an extensive examination of damage awards in copyright infringement cases from the United States, Canada, Singapore, and Italy, this article proposes a comprehensive cross-jurisdictional analysis. The analysis regards types, factors, methodologies, and arguments. This article's findings can be used to adjust the provisions regarding damage awards, to improve the litigation of such cases, to elaborate educational materials, for professional programs or law school clinics, and to develop better prevention policies. The proposed improvements could lead to a more unified approach to damage awards, increase the …

The Impact Of Implementing A 25-Year Reversion/Termination Right In Canada, Paul J. Heald

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Feeling Cute, Might [Have To] Delete Later: Defending Against The Modern Day Copyright Troll, Austin Joseph

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

The age-old clash between celebrities and paparazzi has reached a new high. With the trend moving towards the monetization of social media, evolution in mobile camera technology, and lighting-fast sharing capabilities, the need for paparazzi decreases with each year. Because paparazzi want to remain desirable, the infamous conduct of “copyright trolling” is sweeping the intellectual property scene. “Copyright trolling” is the act of searching social media and suing multiple celebrities when the celebrity post a photo of themselves without first paying the licensing fee. Within this year alone, multiple celebrities like Rebel Wilson, Ariana Grande, and Liam Hemsworth have been …

"You Got Too Much Dip On Your Chip!" How Stagnant Copyright Law Is Stifling Creativity, Taylor Bussey

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Over time, our concept of what qualifies as an author has changed–specifically with the dominance of the internet. Tangentially, our idea of what it means to be a joint author has changed. What once would have required physical proximity now can be accomplished via the internet in a matter of seconds. Authors from all around the globe can collaborate. Geographic limitations present virtually no constraint on the number of individuals that can contribute to a work. Human creativity, however, has remained the same. When creating, authors naturally draw on their human experience. Without tailoring modern copyright law to modern trends …

Who Owns The Law? Why We Must Restore Public Ownership Of Legal Publishing, Leslie A. Street, David R. Hansen

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Each state has its own method for officially publishing the law. This article looks at the history of legal publishing for the fifty states before looking at how legal publishing even in moving to electronic publishing may not ensure public access to the law. The article addresses barriers to free access to the law in electronic publishing including copyright, contract law, and potentially, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The article concludes with prescriptions for how different actors, including state governments, publishers, libraries, and others can ensure robust public access to the law moving forward.

The Modern Fight For Media Freedom In The United States, Jonathan Peters

Scholarly Works

The First Amendment as a subject is challenging and provocative, and scholarly and popular understandings of it are changing. New communication technologies are pushing lawyers, judges, and scholars to revisit, and sometimes rethink, old legal doctrines and concepts. In the area of privacy, we have to think today about encryption and a website's terms of service. In the area of copyright, we have to think about peer-to-peer file sharing and the licenses granted by iTunes. In the area of sexual expression, we have to think about sexting, revenge porn, and deep fakes.'

This is the emerging state of play for …

Code Revision Commission V. Public.Resource.Org And The Fight Over Copyright Protection For Annotations And Commentary, David E. Shipley

Georgia Law Review

This Article analyzes Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org, a 2018 decision in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit applied the public edicts doctrine and held that Georgia’s copyright on the annotations, commentary, and analyses in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated is invalid. The U.S. Supreme Court granted Georgia’s Petition for a Writ of Certiorari on June 24, 2019. About a third of states claim copyright in the annotations to their codes, so the potential impact of this decision is substantial.

This Article’s thesis is that the Eleventh Circuit was wrong and should be reversed. It …

Hold Up: Digital Sampling, Copyright, Infringement, And Artist Credit Through The Lens Of Beyonce's "Lemonade", Spenser Clark

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Will You Have To Pay For The O.C.G.A.?: Copyrighting The Official Code Of Georgia Annotated, Elizabeth Holland

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

In the 1970s, the Georgia General Assembly set out to perfect the organization of the laws of the state. The State worked with a publishing company to not only codify the statutory portions but also create additional annotations to explain the application of the law in practice. When enacting the code, the State merged the statutory portion with the annotations to create the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.). Georgia sought to retain the copyright in the O.C.G.A.

Years later, Carl Malamud and Public.Resource.Org, Inc. (Public Resource) challenged this construction. He alleged merging the statutory code with the annotated version …

Code Revision Commission V. Public.Resource.Org And The Fight Over Copyright Protection For Annotations And Commentary, David E. Shipley

Scholarly Works

This article is about the Eleventh Circuit’s 2018 decision in Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org concerning the public edicts doctrine and holding that the State of Georgia’s copyright on the annotations, commentary and analyses in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated is invalid. About a third of the States claim copyright in the annotations to their codes so the potential impact of this decision is substantial. The U.S. Supreme Court granted Georgia’s petition for a writ of certiorari on Monday, June 24.

The article’s thesis is that the Eleventh Circuit was wrong and should be reversed. It first discusses the …

Derivative Works And Making Sense Of The Maxim That 'Others Are Free To Copy The Original. They Are Not Free To Copy The Copy.', David E. Shipley

Scholarly Works

This is a paper about some of the most entertaining and challenging cases in America’s copyright law jurisprudence concerning derivative works as copyrightable subject matter, and the closely related right to prepare derivative works. The cases are entertaining because they involve very familiar works of authorship, and they are challenging because the rulings are often difficult to reconcile due to the fact that the courts are grappling with copyright’s elusive originality standard as applied to derivative works as well the copyright owner’s right to prepare derivative works. Instead of attempting to say something ‘original’ about originality, my goal for this …

Freebooting On Facebook -- Should The Social Media Giant Face Liability?, Nicholas J. Tait

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

The Curious Case Of Cady Noland And The Disappearing Cabin, Amanda Hoefer

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Location Unaware: Developing A Standard Of Secondary Liability For Location-Aware Technology Developers, Joseph Phillip Sklar

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Ereserves, Annotations, And Registration: Copyright At The 11th Circuit, Stephen Wolfson

Presentations

This presentation discusses eReserves, the 11th circuit and copyright issues surrounding the Georgia State University case heard by Judge Evans in 2008.

Equitable Resale Royalties, Brian L. Frye

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

A “resale royalty right” is a legal right that gives certain artists the right to claim a percentage of the resale price of the artworks they created. Many countries have created a resale royalty right, but the United States has not, and a federal court recently held that a resale royalty right created by California was preempted by federal law.

Commentators disagree about the justification of the resale royalty right. Supporters argue that equity entitles artists to a resale royalty right, which also encourages the production of artwork and protects artists from exploitation. Opponents argue that the resale royalty right …

A Tale Of Two Composers: An Argument For A Limited Expansion Of Moral Rights For Composers, Cassidy Grunninger

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Official Code, Locked Down: An Analysis Of Copyright As It Applies To Annotations Of State Official Codes, Shellea Diane Crochet

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Backing Down: Blurred Lines In The Standards For Analysis Of Substantial Similarity In Copyright Infringement For Musical Works, Nicholas Booth

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.