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Full-Text Articles in Law
Fair Use And The Faces Of Transformation, Part Ii, James Gibson
Fair Use And The Faces Of Transformation, Part Ii, James Gibson
Law Faculty Publications
In my last IP Viewpoints entry, I discussed the origin of “transformation” as a major factor in copyright’s fair use doctrine. In particular, I focused on “expressive” transformation, in which the user changes the actual content of the copyrighted work. Taking old works and turning them into something new is the way that culture usually evolves, so it is no surprise that copyright law would sometimes allow users to engage in such conduct without needing to pay for the privilege.
Yet there is also a second kind of transformation, one that does not involve the alteration of the underlying material. …
Google As Copyright Iconoclast, James Gibson
Google As Copyright Iconoclast, James Gibson
Law Faculty Publications
Google’s role as a copyright defendant has provided fodder for many an essay in this series, particularly with regard to the Google Books litigation. (Incidentally, that litigation celebrates its tenth anniversary next month – and it’s still going strong.) A more recent Google case, however, is probably just as important, and it provides another interesting lesson in the Internet behemoth’s copyright litigation strategy.
The case is Oracle v. Google. In early 2010, Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, the developer of Java, the popular cross-platform programming language. Soon thereafter, Oracle sued Google for copyright infringement, alleging that Google’s Android operating system copied …
Trademark Law As An Agency Problem - Part I, James Gibson
Trademark Law As An Agency Problem - Part I, James Gibson
Law Faculty Publications
A few months ago, my IP Issues entry demonstrated that the exclusive rights that trademark law provides are rooted in consumer welfare – in the need to ensure that consumers are able to distinguish one producer’s goods from those of its competitors. In this entry and the next, I will consider the implications of this point for modern trademark law.
If the consumer interest is really what trademark law is all about, then one conundrum that follows is that consumers do not have trademark rights. Producers do. A moment’s reflection explains why: When consumers are deceived by Producer X’s use …