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Full-Text Articles in Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law
The War Against The Illegal Antiquities Trade: Rules Of Engagement For Source Nations, Jason Mcelroy
The War Against The Illegal Antiquities Trade: Rules Of Engagement For Source Nations, Jason Mcelroy
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This article addresses the problems of retrieving stolen cultural property in a practical manner. Instead of proposing new legislation or changes in the current cultural property regime, this article argues that countries that are source nations for the growing illegal trade in antiquities should better prepare themselves for their retrieval attempts, which in turn gives them a better chance at retrieving them through civil cases. By focusing on settlements and cases won in the United States, the paper submits guidelines by which source nations can be best equipped to prevail in a United States civil suit of replevin.
Words Signifying Nothing - The Evolution Of 315(A) In An Age Of Deregulation And Its Effect On Television News Coverage Of Presidential Elections, Colin Vandell
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Focusing on private networks' television news coverage of presidential campaigns, this Note addresses the enactment and rise of Section 315(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (the equal time rule) and the fairness doctrine that it officially operated in conjunction with for forty years. The Note then turns to the deregulation trend that abolished the fairness doctrine and took much of the bite out of Section 315(a). The Note concludes by examining the rise of ideology-driven and also of marketdriven political coverage that a laxly-enforced Section 315(a) has allowed.
No Animals Were Harmed...: Protecting Chimpanzees From Cruelty Behind The Curtain, Lorraine L. Fischer
No Animals Were Harmed...: Protecting Chimpanzees From Cruelty Behind The Curtain, Lorraine L. Fischer
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Many people, interested in the way animals are treated in the entertainment industry, rely on the American Humane Association's end credit disclaimer, "No Animals Were Harmed During the Making of this Production" to quiet their concerns about animal mistreatment and to avoid supporting films or television programs that injure animals. However, the AHA's end credit disclaimer is misleading because it suggests that projects with the disclaimer are cruelty free. Even if a film or television show receives the "No Animals Were Harmed..." designation, chimpanzees cannot become "actors" and appear on the stage or screen without being subject to severe physical …
Why Protect Political Art As Political Speech, David Greene
Why Protect Political Art As Political Speech, David Greene
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Politics and art make for a volatile combination both socially and jurisprudentially. Although the capacity of artistic expression to relay political ideas was one of the driving forces behind the recognition of strong First Amendment rights for artistic expression, governmental officials tend toward the censorious when art communicates too much and "offends" or causes "controversy." Indeed, when art is "public," that is funded or exhibited by a governmental entity, public officials would often prefer that it contain no message at all. This article reviews the evolution of First Amendment protection for artistic expression, discusses why artistic expression is protected by …
Leveling The Ip Playing Field: Conditional Waiver Theory And The Intellectual Property Protection Restoration Act, Jason Karasik
Leveling The Ip Playing Field: Conditional Waiver Theory And The Intellectual Property Protection Restoration Act, Jason Karasik
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
In 1999 and 2000, a group of federal court decisions ruled that the Eleventh Amendment precludes Congress from holding states and their institutions liable in damages for infringing federal intellectual property protection laws. These rulings have created a marked imbalance in the American intellectual property system, in which states can fully protect their own intellectual property yet freely infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. Private intellectual property owners argue that this imbalance increasingly threatens the health of the American economy. In response, Congressional reformers enacted the Intellectual Property Protection Restoration Act. The legislation uses a conditional waiver scheme …
Undermining The Initial Allocation Of Rights: Copyright Versus Contract And The Burden Of Proof, Thomas A. Mitchell
Undermining The Initial Allocation Of Rights: Copyright Versus Contract And The Burden Of Proof, Thomas A. Mitchell
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Copyright law is designed to provide authors with incentives to create work. Publishers have usurped these incentives, however, by leveraging their superior bargaining power to contractually require authors to transfer all rights to a work. This Note argues that this problem could be resolved by a shifting the burden of proving that the contract was voluntary, and not coerced, from the author to the publisher. Proving that a contract was not voluntarily entered into forms an affirmative defense for a breach, which places the burden on the author. This Note will show that intellectual property cases are different, because, inter …
On A Clearplay, You Can See Whatever: Copyright And Tradmark Issues Arising From Unauthorized Film Editing, Gail H. Cline
On A Clearplay, You Can See Whatever: Copyright And Tradmark Issues Arising From Unauthorized Film Editing, Gail H. Cline
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
A growing number of companies are offering "E-rated" versions of motion picture VHS tapes and DVDs-that is, versions which have been edited to remove nudity, sexual situations, and offensive or graphic language. These third-party editors do not own the copyrights or trademarks for the motion pictures they edit, nor do they have the permission of the owners. This article explains the processes that the thirdparty editors use to create the edited versions, as well as the copyright and trademark laws that apply, and analyzes the activities of the third-party editing companies actions in light of current copyright and trademark laws.
Reformulating The On Sale Bar, Frank Albert
Reformulating The On Sale Bar, Frank Albert
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The On Sale Bar has been construed narrowly to require that an invention be ready for patenting and that a commercial offer for sale be made in order for the Bar to apply. Although this approach provides certainty for patent applicants, it potentially increases monopoly profits for patentees by disregarding commercial activity designed to increase demand for an invention that is ready for patenting. This Note concludes that a broader formulation of the On Sale Bar that considers this type of activity is more in line with the relevant underlying policies.
A Bipolar Copyright System For The Digital Network Environment, Alexander Peukert
A Bipolar Copyright System For The Digital Network Environment, Alexander Peukert
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The widespread adoption of peer-to-peer software has allowed for fast, cheap, and easy distribution of content all over the world. Although this technology promises great advances for the global exchange of knowledge, it also greatly threatens copyright owners' interests. This article analyzes possible solutions to this conflict from an international copyright law prospective, considering requirements imposed by TRIPS, The Berne Convention, and The WIPO Copyright Treaty. This article proposes a flexible "bipolar" system, in which authors are allowed to choose between compensation provided by a levy-tax system and protection of their works through digital rights management technology, as a solution …
The Reporter's Privilege: The Necessity Of A Federal Shield Law Thirty Years After Branzburg, Leila Wombacher Knox
The Reporter's Privilege: The Necessity Of A Federal Shield Law Thirty Years After Branzburg, Leila Wombacher Knox
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
To date, thirty-one states and the District of Columbia have enacted shield laws that provide varying degrees of protection to reporters, their sources, and their notes. Several federal lawmakers have publicly considered whether a similar federal law would be appropriate. This note examines the roots of the reporter's privilege, surveys selected state shield laws, and considers the impact of the seminal Supreme Court case in the federal realm.
The Failure Of The Broadcast Flag: Copyright Protection To Make Hollywood Happy, Lisa M. Ezra
The Failure Of The Broadcast Flag: Copyright Protection To Make Hollywood Happy, Lisa M. Ezra
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Digital online piracy of television programming is a growing problem that has the television industry, production studios, and the Motion Picture Association of America searching for a cure. The FCC's planned cure is the "broadcast flag," which requires manufacturers of television equipment to bear the burden of protecting broadcast programming from pirates. The FCC's scheme not only contains several loopholes allowing pirates to circumvent the flag technology, it also protects only a tiny fraction of digital television content, at the cost of consumers. This note explains the ineffectiveness of the "broadcast flag," and suggests an alternate scheme based around copyright …
Will Mechanicals Break The Digital Machine: Determining A Fair Mechanical Royalty Rate For Permanent Digital Phonographic Downloads, David Kostiner
Will Mechanicals Break The Digital Machine: Determining A Fair Mechanical Royalty Rate For Permanent Digital Phonographic Downloads, David Kostiner
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Digital Downloading has become an exciting distribution model that has made large amounts of music available to consumers for a fraction of the price of a compact disc. However, if the mechanical royalty rate paid to composers for the reproduction of their work remains pegged to a fixed number, fluxuations in the retail price of downloads will either reduce or increase the relative value of the payment. To avoid smaller margins, which could dissuade independent labels from making masters available online, or a disproportionately low mechanical rate, the statutory mechanical royalty should be set as a percentage of wholesale receipts, …
As A Matter Of Fact, It's A Question Of Law: A Case For De Novo Review Of Likelihood Of Confusion In Trademark Cases, Richard A. Dilgren Iii
As A Matter Of Fact, It's A Question Of Law: A Case For De Novo Review Of Likelihood Of Confusion In Trademark Cases, Richard A. Dilgren Iii
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
A stark circuit split mars the consistency of trademark infringement analyses within U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal; some circuits review likelihood of confusion as a matter of fact, while others review it as a matter of law. This disparity places appellants at a disadvantage in some circuits and unnecessarily hinders the function of appellate courts by constraining their review of a substantially subjective balancing of facts. This Note concludes that although the individual factors indicating a likelihood of confusion are issues of fact, the ultimate issue of likelihood of confusion should be reviewed as a matter of law, allowing Circuit …
Are You Still Settling For Cable? A Case For Broader Application Of The Fcc’S Over-The-Air Reception Devices Rule, Lavonda N. Reed-Huff
Are You Still Settling For Cable? A Case For Broader Application Of The Fcc’S Over-The-Air Reception Devices Rule, Lavonda N. Reed-Huff
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Many renters in the United States have no choice when it comes to selecting a video or communications service provider for their residence, due to their inability to install satellite dishes on their rental property. Because of this lack of choice, many must rely on traditional broadcast television, cable service and traditional telephone dial-up for receiving video programming and accessing advanced technologies such as the Internet. Others simply go without service altogether. While the FCC has attempted to address this problem, the rule they have promulgated, known as the "OTARD Rule," fails to go far enough to make video and …
Cross Burning Revisited: What The Supreme Court Should Have Done In Virginia V. Black And Why It Didn’T, W. Wat Hopkins
Cross Burning Revisited: What The Supreme Court Should Have Done In Virginia V. Black And Why It Didn’T, W. Wat Hopkins
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The Supreme Court of the United States, in R.A. V. v. St. Paul, created a complicated framework of law that, despite years of case law to the contrary, would allow a court to hold a law banning cross burning to be constitutional, even if the law was not content-neutral. The ruling caused considerable problems in cases involving cross burning that reached lower appellate courts. In Virginia v. Black, the Court had the opportunity to resolve the problem, but refused to do so. Instead, the Court restructured the law related to intimidating and threatening speech, creating even more ambiguity. Under the …
Play It Again, Sam: Webcasters’ Sound Recording Complement As An Unconstitutional Restraint On Free Speech, Amanda S. Reid
Play It Again, Sam: Webcasters’ Sound Recording Complement As An Unconstitutional Restraint On Free Speech, Amanda S. Reid
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Music embodies two copyrights: one for the words and notes, and another for the particular sound recording. Copyright law provides for a compulsory license that enables a Webcaster to transmit songs without first negotiating price and permission, provided a royalty fee is paid. A condition for being eligible for the statutory license is compliance with the "sound recording performance complement," which limits the number of songs that may be played during a three-hour period to no more than three songs from one album, and no more than two songs back to back. This Article argues that the "sound recording performance …
Redefining The Transformative Use Of Copyrighted Works: Toward A Fair Use Standard In The Digital Environment, Jisuk Woo
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This paper analyzes the transformative use factor in fair use analysis of copyright law. The author argues that, in the changing information environment stimulated by digital information technology, the end user's creativity in their activities of using works of authorship should be the focus in applying the principle of transformative use rather than the subsequent creation of transformed work as found in the lower court cases after Campbell.
But We Have To Protect Our Source: How Electronic Voting Companies' Proprietary Code Ruins Elections, Andrew Massey
But We Have To Protect Our Source: How Electronic Voting Companies' Proprietary Code Ruins Elections, Andrew Massey
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
In the wake of the disastrous 2000 Presidential election, reformers turned to touch-screen electronic voting machines, or DREs, to avoid repeating Florida's experience with endless recounts and hanging chads. As soon as DREs were introduced, however, criticism quickly mounted, focusing on the machines' error-ridden code, inability to perform recounts, and susceptibility to hacking. This note explores how the problems associated with DREs stem directly from their reliance on proprietary source code. This note puts forth the argument that proprietary code place's electronic voting companies' intellectual property rights ahead of the public's need for an accountable and transparent voting system. In …
Holding The Spymasters Accountable After 9/11: A Proposed Model For Cia Disclosure Requirements Under The Freedom Of Information Act, Martin E. Halstuk
Holding The Spymasters Accountable After 9/11: A Proposed Model For Cia Disclosure Requirements Under The Freedom Of Information Act, Martin E. Halstuk
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
For the last two decades, near-blanket CIA secrecy has gone largely unchecked, principally because of CIA v. Sims, a sweeping 1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision that exempted the Agency from virtually any disclosure requirements under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The uncurbed secrecy that the Court has sanctioned effectively blocks public and press efforts to evaluate CIA performance, thus making Agency accountability difficult, if not impossible. The well-publicized missteps and failures by the CIA in connection with the 9/11 terrorist attacks illustrate the follies of how excessive secrecy can conceal grave problems in Agency management. This article argues that …
Sharing And Stealing, Jessica Litman
Sharing And Stealing, Jessica Litman
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The purpose of copyright is to encourage the creation and mass dissemination of a wide variety of works. Until recently, most means of mass dissemination required a significant capital investment. The lion's share of the economic proceeds of copyrights were therefore channeled to publishers and distributors, and the law was designed to facilitate that. Digital distribution invites us to reconsider all of the assumptions underlying that model. We are still in the early history of the networked digital environment, but already we've seen experiments with both direct and consumer-to-consumer distribution of works of authorship. One remarkable example of the difference …
Picking Up The Pieces Of Grokster: A New Approach To File Sharing, Tom Graves
Picking Up The Pieces Of Grokster: A New Approach To File Sharing, Tom Graves
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The introduction of peer-to-peer file-sharing has created a plethora of new legal issues regarding the creation and distribution of music recordings. The music, however, is only half of the story. The case of MGM Studios v. Grokster addresses the tension between promoting progress in music and protecting the development of new technologies. Although it may be time to revisit the judicial standard for vicarious and contributory copyright infringement in the file-sharing context, a new legislative framework must ultimately be found. The creators of music should be compensated for their work, but not at the unnecessary expense of new and useful …
Can The Right Of Publicity Afford Free Speech - A New Right Of Publicity Test For First Amendment Cases, Jason K. Levine
Can The Right Of Publicity Afford Free Speech - A New Right Of Publicity Test For First Amendment Cases, Jason K. Levine
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The right of publicity finds itself increasingly threatened by the First Amendment. Recent decisions at both the state and federal levels have served to highlight the confusion and lack of uniformity. For example, the Ninth Circuit recently held that an artist could not sell T-shirts with a charcoal drawing of the Three Stooges without permission, yet shortly thereafter the Sixth Circuit rejected Tiger Woods' attempt to prevent an artist from selling a painting of him winning a golf tournament, on essentially the same grounds. The author argues that the right of publicity and the First Amendment can co-exist, but that …
Jazz Photo And The Doctrine Of Patent Exhaustion: Implications To Trips And International Harmonization Of Patent Protection, Daniel Erlikman
Jazz Photo And The Doctrine Of Patent Exhaustion: Implications To Trips And International Harmonization Of Patent Protection, Daniel Erlikman
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The doctrine of patent exhaustion prevents the patent owner from controlling the further destiny of the patented invention once the owner authorized the first sale or use of the product in the marketplace. In recent years, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit advanced a modified rule of exhaustion, which permits the U.S. patent holder to contractually restrict the first purchaser's subsequent re-use or re-sale of the product. The recent Jazz Photo decision is a controversial and unjustified switch from existing U.S. jurisprudence in the field of patent exhaustion and parallel imports. By applying a territorial rule …
The Biology Of The Broadcast Flag, Susan P. Crawford
The Biology Of The Broadcast Flag, Susan P. Crawford
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its content affiliates would like all consumer electronics and information technology companies to innovate "according to the rules." The arguments made by the MPAA and its content colleagues in support of national (and, eventually, global) control over the functionality of the devices that manipulate content are fundamentally troubling for the future of innovation and the future of law itself. But the content industry has hit on a very important way of thinking about law. We should pay attention to the evolutionary ecosystem of the law as the background medium in which innovation …
Considerations On The Emerging Implementation Of Biometric Technology, Robin Feldman
Considerations On The Emerging Implementation Of Biometric Technology, Robin Feldman
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The United States is embarking on widespread implementation of biometric technology, which uses automated methods to identify people based on their physiological and behavioral characteristics. Regardless of how much we invest in establishing standards for reliability of the technology and protections of the data, no system will be foolproof. Biometric determinations will be subject to mistakes, fraud, and abuse through human and technological error, both intentional and inadvertent. We should, therefore, take this opportunity to develop methods for individuals to review and challenge biometric determinations. In particular, this article suggests a doctrinal framework for challenging biometric determinations made by administrative …
The Perils Of Telemarketing Under The Telephone Consumer Protection Act Sending Unsolicited Faxes Costs Dallas Cowboys $1.73 Million, Leaves Dallas Mavericks Under Full Court Pressure, Paul J. Batista
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
In 1991, Congress passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to "protect the privacy interests" of outraged constituents who received annoying phone calls from telemarketers. The Act prohibits sending unsolicited faxes to unwilling recipients, and creates fines up to $1,500 for each individual fax. The Dallas Mavericks have been sued under the Act, creating potential liability of $135 million. Fax broadcasters have unsuccessfully challenged the Act under the First and Fifth Amendments. The Act grants jurisdiction to individual state courts, and a Georgia case has resulted in a final judgment of $11,899,000.
How To Constitutionally Protect Against Virtual Child Pornography, Emanuel Shiarzi
How To Constitutionally Protect Against Virtual Child Pornography, Emanuel Shiarzi
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
The improvement of computer graphics and its resulting burden on prosecuting real child pornography led Congress to pass the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) of 1996. However, in addition to prohibiting virtual child pornography the CPPA banned many other areas of protected speech and was held unconstitutional in 2002. This article gives an overview of the First Amendment concerns of future virtual child pornography laws, the laws currently being proposed in Congress, and then proposes its own constitutional virtual child pornography law.
China And The Prior Consent Requirement: A Decade Of Invasion And Counter-Invasion By Transfrontier Satellite Television, Mei Ning Yan
China And The Prior Consent Requirement: A Decade Of Invasion And Counter-Invasion By Transfrontier Satellite Television, Mei Ning Yan
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
This paper examines and analyzes why the majority of television viewers in China can only have access to domestic television at the beginning of the 21st century, despite direct broadcasting by satellite, which respects no national borders being widely employed in Asia for a decade. By applying national broadcasting rules, this paper argues, the Chinese authorities have successfully given effect to the "prior consent requirement," a concept which was fiercely debated in the international arena and has supposedly long been discarded because of disagreement among nations and technological advances.
Examining The Evidence: Post-Verdict Interviews And The Jury System, Nicole B. Casarez
Examining The Evidence: Post-Verdict Interviews And The Jury System, Nicole B. Casarez
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Although jury deliberations are kept secret, jurors sometimes speak out to the press after the conclusion of a trial about the rationale for their verdict, what pieces of evidence were important to their decision, and similar issues. Some argue that post-verdict juror interviews are harmful to the very foundation of the jury system, because they endanger defendants' fair trial rights, invade jurors' privacy, and distort public perception of jury verdicts. However, others, such as the author, consider these post-verdict interviews important, because they permit the public to gain a better understanding of the verdicts as well as the nature of …
Unmasking Crack_Smoking_Jesus: Do Internet Service Providers Have A Tarasoff Duty To Divulge The Identity Of A Subscriber Who Is Making Death Threats, Jon B. Eisenberg, Jeremy B. Rosen
Unmasking Crack_Smoking_Jesus: Do Internet Service Providers Have A Tarasoff Duty To Divulge The Identity Of A Subscriber Who Is Making Death Threats, Jon B. Eisenberg, Jeremy B. Rosen
UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal
Based on a personal experience. During ongoing litigation, the authors' clients began receiving pseudonymous threats by email and on an Internet message board maintained by Yahoo! Inc. This experience led the authors to ask themselves a question: What should lawyers do when their clients receive anonymous death threats electronically during the pendency of litigation? In their case, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) determined the identity of the perpetrator and the local United States Attorney's office eventually commenced prosecution. However, pursuant to rules of federal grand jury secrecy, the perpetrator's identity still remained a secret. When the identity was sought …