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Full-Text Articles in Law
Locking Out Locke: A New Natural Copyright Law, Joseph A. Gerber
Locking Out Locke: A New Natural Copyright Law, Joseph A. Gerber
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
For decades lawyers, professors, philosophers, and law students have been trapped in an endless, two-sided debate regarding the justification for copyright law in the United States. On one side stand the utilitarians, who argue that modern American copyright law amounts to nothing more than positive law2 in the form of an economic incentive for authors to express themselves creatively. Natural law theorists, on the other hand, argue that there is some- thing more substantial behind the current copyright regime—that copyright is not merely a formulation of positive law, but a recogni- tion of philosophical principles of ownership inherent in the …
The Lost Language Of The First Amendment In Copyright Fair Use: A Semiotic Perspective Of The “Transformative Use” Doctrine Twenty-Five Years On, David Tan
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
It has been twenty-five years since Judge Pierre Leval published his iconic article, “Toward a Fair Use Standard,” urging that courts adopt a new guiding principle of “transformative use” to determine whether an unauthorized secondary use of a copy-righted work is fair. The Supreme Court’s emphatic endorsement of this approach in 1994 has resulted in a remarkable judicial expansion of the transformative use doctrine which today covers virtually any “creation of new information, new aesthetics, new in-sights and understandings.” While the Supreme Court reiterated in Golan v. Holder in 2012 that the fair use defense is one of copyright law’s …
Using Copyright To Remove Content: An Analysis Of Garcia V. Google, Elizabeth Martin
Using Copyright To Remove Content: An Analysis Of Garcia V. Google, Elizabeth Martin
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
This Note will investigate how individuals attempt to use copyright law, instead of seeking damages for emotional distress or privacy, by using Garcia I and Garcia II as examples. Part I will provide background on Garcia I and Garcia II, the facts leading up to the lawsuit, the first decision and the criticism surrounding it, and the second decision. Part II will discuss what other legal methods Garcia may have used to achieve the same result and potentially obtain the same relief if she decided not to sue for copyright infringement. Part III will look beyond Garcia I and Garcia …
“It’S Been A Hard Day’S Night” For Songwriters: Why The Ascap And Bmi Consent Decrees Must Undergo Reform, Brontë Lawson Turk
“It’S Been A Hard Day’S Night” For Songwriters: Why The Ascap And Bmi Consent Decrees Must Undergo Reform, Brontë Lawson Turk
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
In order to guarantee reasonable fees for songwriters, composers, and publishers, the consent decrees must undergo critical reform to account for how music is licensed in new media. Part I of this Note will provide background on the mechanics of music licensing, both traditional and through modern mediums, in order to explain why the two largest PROs initially entered into governmental consent decrees. Part II will discuss recent judicial determinations of “reasonable” licensing rates for public performances in new media and demonstrate the discrepancy in compensation between songwriters and their sound recording counterparts, namely record companies and recording artists. Finally, …
The Need For "Supreme" Clarity: Clothing, Copyright, And Conceptual Separability, Jacqueline Lefebvre
The Need For "Supreme" Clarity: Clothing, Copyright, And Conceptual Separability, Jacqueline Lefebvre
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal
For the first time in history, the U.S. Supreme Court will address copyright protection in the context of apparel in the case Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, Inc. This case tackles arguably the most vexing, unresolved question in copyright law: How to determine whether artistic features of a useful article—such as a garment or piece of furniture—are conceptually separable from the article and thus protectable. Indeed, this case comes more than sixty years after Mazer v. Stein, the Supreme Court’s first and,until this date, only decision in this area. A lack of clear guidance from the Supreme Court and …