Law Commons^™

Copyright 101, Jay M. Nadlman

Learning Exchange Networks

This presentation gives a brief overview of copyright, Fair Use, and other issues of intellectual property.

The Dangers Of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Much Ado About Nothing?, Steve P. Calandrillo, Ewa M. Davison

William & Mary Law Review

In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a landmark piece of legislation aimed at protecting copyright holders from those who might manufacture or traffic technology capable of allowing users to evade piracy protections on the underlying work. At its core, the DMCA flatly prohibits the circumvention of "technological protection measures "in order to gain access to copyrighted works, but provides no safety valve for any traditionally protected uses. While hailed as a victory by the software and entertainment industries, the academic and scientific communities have been far less enthusiastic. The DMCA's goal of combating piracy is a …

Draft For Harmless Use: Gleaning From Fields Of Copyrighted Works - 2008, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

My inquiry is into whether harmless uses of property should give the property owner a right to sue. Under current law, harmless trespasses to land and to copyrights and patents do indeed give rise to liability. Should they? Neither moral philosophy, political science nor economics deals well with the harmless free-rider. The possibility I'm exploring-- just exploring at this stage-- is the following: that where inexhaustible products like information become a primary source of value, our institutions might serve us better if instead of mandating payment for harmless use via legal compulsion, payment for harmless use be left to the …

We Interrupt This Broadcast: Will The Copyright Royalty Board’S March 2007 Rate Determination Proceedings Pull The Plug On Internet Radio?, Erich Carey

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Copyright And Permissions: Sometimes They're The Same, Kopana Terry

Library Presentations

No abstract provided.

Bridgeport Redux: Digital Sampling And Audience Recoding, David M. Morrison

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Vol. Vi, Tab 38 - Ex. 21 - Email From Christina Aguilar, Christina Aguilar

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

Copyright, Clickers, And Consensus, Jonathan Bacon

SIDLIT Conference Proceedings

A discussion about classroom copyright issues and integrating technology.

Intellectual Property Rights And Global Warming, Estaelle Derclaye

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

Global warming is an issue that is everywhere in today's society. This article examines whether intellectual property rights could be the solution to the global warming problem. The article limits its discussion to patent and copyright law and explores solutions to global warming that are applicable in Europe. The author suggests that these recommendations could influence other countries to make their intellectual property rights greener, as intellectual property rights are based on international instruments and universal agreements that could apply in any country. The article examines how current copyright and patent laws already tackle global warming and explains how these …

Kewanee Revisited: Returning To First Principles Of Intellectual Property Law To Determine The Issue Of Federal Preemption, Sharon K. Sandeen

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

In the early 1970s it was thought that states could regulate in the areas of trade secrets without interfering with federal patent policies. However, this concept was called into question in the Sixth Circuit's ruling in Kewanee Oil Co. v. Bicron. In 1974 the Supreme Court ruled that Ohio's trade secret law was not preempted by federal patent law. This article revisits the issues raised in Kewanee in light of the Supreme Court's current preemption jurisprudence, changes in patent law, copyright law, and trade secret law since that time. First, the article reviews the history and context of the Kewanee …

Panel Ii: The Death Or Rebirth Of The Copyright?, Hugh C. Hansen, Diane Zimmerman, Robert Kasunic, Brett Frischmann

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Who Owns The Key To The Vault? Hold-Up, Lock-Out, And Other Copyright Strategies, Andrea Pacelli

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Making Circumstantial Proof Of Distribution Available, Robert Kasunic

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

“It’S The Same Old Song”: The Failure Of The Originality Requirement In Musical Copyright, Valeria M. Castanaro

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

What's In A Song? Copyright's Unfair Treatment Of Record Producers And Side Musicians, Gabriel J. Fleet

Vanderbilt Law Review

As they say in the music business, "It all begins with a song."' This is true from a commercial perspective, as it would be difficult to record albums, film videos, license music for video games, sell sheet music, or promote concerts without the basic building block of the musical composition. It is also true on the metaphysical level, because the organization of sounds into compositional form creates the necessary order that distinguishes music from noise.

Yet despite the centrality of the song, for legal purposes it is difficult to answer the question, "What is a song?" Or, to use a …

The Mereology Of Digital Copyright, Dan L. Burk

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Big Boi, Dr. Seuss, And The King: Expanding The Constitutional Protections For The Satirical Use Of Famous Trademarks , Aaron Jaroff

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Addressing Default Trends In Patent-Based Section 337 Proceedings In The United States International Trade Commission, John C. Evans

Michigan Law Review

Section 337 of the Tarif Act of 1930 empowers the United States International Trade Commission to investigate imports to ensure imports do not infringe on U.S. trademarks. The Commission permits patent, copyright, and trademark owners to notify the Commission of possibly infringing imports and to obtain exclusion orders that prevent importation of products that infringe their intellectual property. The total number of investigations increased from 1996 to 2005, yet the proportion of respondent defaults rose as well. The increase in defaults suggests there is some systemic difficulty in ensuring full participation. This Note argues that the res judicata effects of …

Complying With The National Institutes Of Health Public Access Policy: Copyright Considerations And Options, Michael Carroll

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This White Paper is written primarily for policymaking staff in universities and other institutional recipients of NIH support responsible for ensuring compliance with the Public Access Policy. The January 11, 2008, Public Access Policy imposes two new compliance mandates. First, the grantee must ensure proper manuscript submission. The version of the article to be submitted is the final version over which the author has control, which must include all revisions made after peer review. The statutory command directs that the manuscript be submitted to PMC “upon acceptance for publication.” That is, the author’s final manuscript should be submitted to PMC …

Harry Potter And The (Re)Order Of The Artists: Are We Muggles Or Goblins?, Gary Pulsinelli

Scholarly Works

In "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," author J.K. Rowling attributes to goblins a very interesting view of ownership rights in artistic works. According to Rowling, goblins believe that the maker of an artistic object maintain an ongoing ownership interest in that object even after it is sold, and is entitled to get it back when the purchaser dies. While this view may strike some as rather odd when it is applied to tangible property in the 'muggle' world, it actually has some very interesting parallels to the legal treatment of intangible property, particularly in the areas of intellectual property …

Pornography, Coercion, And Copyright Law 2.0, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

The lack of regulation of the production of pornography in the United States leaves pornography performers exposed to substantial risks. Producers of pornography typically respond to attempts to regulate pornography as infringements upon free speech. At the same time, large corporations involved in the production and sale of pornography rely on copyright law's complex regulatory framework to protect their pornographic content from copying and unauthorized distribution. Web 2.0 also facilitates the production and distribution of pornography by individuals. These user-generators produce their own pornography, often looking to monetize their productions themselves via advertising revenues and subscription models. Much like their …

Copyright Law And Pornography: Reconsidering Incentives To Create And Distribute Pornography, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

As it moved into the mainstream in the 1970s and early 1980s, pornography obtained copyright protections through judicial fiat, rather than as a result of legislative action. This essay explains how pornography came to be eligible for copyright protections, discusses the social and legal effects of this change, and raises questions about the propriety of according pornography the full benefits of copyright law without taking into account the harms that pornography production can inflict on subordinated or coerced "performers."

When Bias Is Bipartisan: Teaching About The Democratic Process In An Intellectual Property Law Republic, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Introduction]: Intellectual property law courses offer law professors the opportunity to teach a subject area rich with complicated statutory and court-made doctrines about which students do not usually have strong or extensively delineated moral views. I It also gives everyone in the classroom a refreshing break from the traditional partisanship of political party politics. Identification as a Democrat or Republican does not provide too much guidance or create too many expectations about a person's views of intellectual property issues, freeing classroom debates from the constrictions that political loyalties impose in so many other contexts.

Viewing Virtual Property Ownership Through The Lens Of Innovation, Ryan G. Vacca

Law Faculty Scholarship

Over the past several years scholars have wrestled with how property rights in items created in virtual worlds should be conceptualized. Regardless of how the property is conceptualized and what property theory best fits, most agree the law ought to recognize virtual property as property and vest someone with those rights.

The True Colors Of Trademark Law: Green-Lighting A Red Tide Of Anti Competition Blues, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

The elevation of color to stand-alone trademark status illustrates the unbounded nature of trademarks within the judicial consciousness. The availability of color-alone marks also facilitates the commoditization of color in ways that complicate the development and distribution of products and services that use color for multiple purposes conterminously. The economic case for color-alone trademarks is severely undermined by careful observation of the ways that colors are actually deployed in commerce, which makes it clear that the trademarks of multiple goods and services can utilize the same color to telegraph the same message without confusing anyone or diluting the commercial power …

Email To Bob Bone Re: Idea Expression Dichotomy, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

This is to recap our discussion, to make sure we're on the same page, and carry this a bit further. I'm very excited.

Copyright Law And Pornography: Reconsidering Incentives To Create And Distribute Pornography, Ann Bartow

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

As it moved into the mainstream in the 1970s and early 1980s, pornography obtained copyright protections through judicial fiat, rather than as a result of legislative action. This essay explains how pornography came to be eligible for copyright protections, discusses the social and legal effects of this change, and raises questions about the propriety of according pornography the full benefits of copyright law without taking into account the harms that pornography production can inflict on subordinated or coerced ―performers.

What Do We Do With A Doctrine Like Merger? A Look At The Imminent Collision Of The Dmca And Idea/Expression Dichotomy, Matthew J. Faust

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

With the introduction of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), courts are now faced with the unsettling issue that copyright holders can receive damages even though copyright infringement did not occur. This comment begins its analysis of this issue with a brief overview of basic copyright infringement fundamentals, the different approaches and numerous tests that circuit courts have applied, and the idea/expression dichotomy, including the merger doctrine and the scenes a faire doctrine. The author then explores the collision between the DMCA and the idea/expression dichotomy by showing how the DMCA has impacted copyright law and how it intersects with …

Sampling: Musical Authorship Out Of Tune With The Purpose Of The Copyright Regime, Rahmiel D. Rothenberg

St. Thomas Law Review

While the present debate over the practice of sampling may seem to be just a minuscule footnote in the evolution of copyright law, the legal battle that sampling is presently engaged in illuminates many of the future, and ongoing, issues that copyright law faces. One of those major issues is whether copyright law embraces the true nature of creation and authorship. An individual's view on the nature of authorship essentially frames his or her opinion on the legitimacy of creative forms built upon appropriation, such as sampling. This article asserts that there are two legitimate forms of authorship: romantic and …

Fair Circumvention, Timothy K. Armstrong

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Judicial decisions construing the key liability provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. - 1201, cluster around two incompatible poles. One set of decisions construes the DMCA's liability provisions broadly, emphasizing the need to prevent possible copyright infringement and limit the public availability of tools that may be used to infringe. Other cases construe the same language narrowly, stressing the avoidance of anticompetitive market distortions. Both sets of decisions insist that their interpretation is commanded by the literal text of the DMCA. A closer look, however, reveals that both sides have overstated the support they may plausibly …