Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Cultural Losses And Cultural Gains: Ethical Dilemmas In Wwii-Looted Art Repatriation Claims Against Public Institutions, Erin L. Thompson

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Alongside their campaign of physically exterminating the Jewish population of Europe, the Nazis carried out a highly organized plan of cultural genocide which involved the confiscation or forced sale of hundreds of thousands of pieces of art. Although a sizable number of these works were returned to their owners or their heirs by the Allied forces after the war, many disappeared into the hands of private possessors. Many remain hidden in private collections, but a number of these artworks were given to or purchased by museums or other public institutions. In recent decades, the heirs of Holocaust victims have been …

Is Your Furniture Spying On You?: Covert Use Of Gps In Advertising, Brandy Worden

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Advancements in technology have been paired with advertising. The result is personalized, but at times intrusive, advertising tactics. The Note uses an advertising campaign titled "The Real Good Experiment" ("the Experiment") as a case study to examine how advertising invades our personal spheres, and also how the legal framework should be fortified to protect consumer privacy.

The subjects of the Experiment brought furniture that had been seemingly abandoned into their homes only to later discover that the furniture had GPS devices hidden within them. The Note considers various categories of legal protection available when advertising invades consumer privacy. The Note …

Effective Reader Privacy For Electronic Books: A Proposal, Jennifer Elmore

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Historically, reader privacy has been heavily protected in the United States. Numerous library laws, bookstore laws, and Supreme Court opinions have affirmed and upheld reader privacy for traditional paper books. However, electronic readers and electronic books are becoming increasingly popular. These new devices are undoubtedly beneficial; however, with this new technology comes increased privacy concerns. The electronic format allows the reading and purchasing habits of consumers to be tracked in a way that was formerly impossible with traditional books. Electronic readers often track which books are purchased, which pages are read, and more. Additionally, the laws that apply to traditional …

File Sharing Is Dead! Long Live File Sharing! Recent Developments In The Law Of Secondary Liability For Copyright Infringement, Christian E. Mammen

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In the past several years, courts have issued a number of rulings on the issue of online service providers' secondary liability for copyright infringement in connection with online file sharing. Overall, it appears that the larger, more established providers who "play fair" with content owners tend to fare better than brasher, more rebellious providers. Is this correct because more rebellious providers are guiltier than the established ones? Or is there a double standard at play? Could the brash, rebellious "bad guys" ever win the protection of the safe harbor? It is difficult to make a direct apples-to-apples comparison, because each …

Facebook And Social Networks: The Government’S Newest Playground For Information And The Laws That Haven’T Quite Kept Pace, Danielle Levine

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

With the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook, individuals are sharing information about themselves at alarming rates. With such copious amounts of personal information on the Internet, it is unsurprising that the government is using social networking sites to gain access to data for use in criminal investigations and prosecutions. This paper examines the ways in which social networking sites and the government's search for information collide. Part I looks at Facebook and discusses the ways the government has used Facebook and similar social networking sites in its investigations. Part II outlines the statutory framework through which the …

Adding Injury To Insult: Injurious Speech On The Internet And Its Implications For The First Amendment, Shelly Rosenfeld

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Cyberbullying became a major news story after a MySpace message took a deadly toll on a teenager. This paper examines how injurious speech case law in traditional print and broadcast media balances protecting victims who suffer emotional or physical harm while still preserving publisher's First Amendment rights. These cases provide a framework within which the injurious speech jurisprudence can be applied to emerging forms of communication, including the Internet.

By exploring the injurious speech cases from broadcast and print, this Note deals with the following issues: Can a public figure sue the press for intentionally inflicting emotional distress? What are …

Legislative And Regulatory Strategies For Providing Consumer Safeguards In A Convergent Information And Communications Marketplace, Rob Frieden

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The Federal Communications Commission desires to apply a single regulatory category to services and service providers, a process the Commission can achieve when ventures concentrate on one function and offer one readily identifiable service, such as telephony. However, technological convergence, digitization and the ability of the Internet to handle many different service types within a single bitstream now make it possible for companies to offer "quadruple play" bundles of wireless and wireline telephony, video, and Internet access services. Following Comcast Corp. v. FCC, the FCC must rethink how to best serve the public interest and safeguard consumers. Absent a legislative …

The Parents Television Council Uncensored: An Inside Look At The Watchdog Of The Public Airwaves And The War On Indecency With Its President, Tim Winter, Clay Calvert, Robert D. Richards

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article addresses the Federal Communication Commission's ("FCC") controversial and contested regulation of indecency on the broadcast airwaves. It pivots on an exclusive in-person interview conducted by the authors in Los Angeles in June 2010 with Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council ("PTC"). The PTC is perhaps the most vociferous-and controversial-public watchdog on broadcast indecency, with its members filing thousands and thousands of indecency complaints with the FCC each year. The article is especially timely because, in July 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Fox Television Stations v. FCC declared the FCC's indecency …

All Your Face Are Belong To Us: Protecting Celebrity Images In Hyper-Realistic Video Games, Krista Correa

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

As the law is currently structured, there is no clear protection for a celebrity who is personally offended (but not financially harmed) by another party's use of that celebrity's image. This lack of clarity is particularly problematic today due to the hyperrealism of nextgeneration video games. This article begins with a review of the legal rights and remedies currently available to a celebrity whose face or image is used by a game developer without the celebrity's consent. Part II of the article considers whether the current regime provides sufficient protection, while Part III turns to other sources of law and …

Storage And Privacy In The Cloud: Enduring Access To Ephemeral Messages, Sarah Salter

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The paper examines the distinction between "stored communications" and the greater privacy protection given to communications in the process of transmission under U.S. federal law. The issue arises in the context of voice mail, text messages, and email. Statutes examined include the Stored Communications Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act ("ECPA"), the Wiretap Act, and the language amending the Wiretap Act to eliminate storage from the definition of wire communication in the USA Patriot Act. Case discussions examine the development of the concept of "stored" communications. The emphasis is on recent cases after the USA Patriot Act and a decision …

A National Security Puzzle: Mosaic Theory And The First Amendment Right Of Access In The Federal Courts, Michael P. Goodwin

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article examines the tension between sensitive national security information and transparency in the federal courts. Although courts are public institutions with long histories of public access, courts also have the power to restrict access to information if it poses a threat to national security. In a variety of contexts, restrictions on access have been justified by mosaic theory-the idea that even apparently innocuous information can be harmful to national security interests if pieced together by a knowledgeable observer, such as a foreign intelligence organization. This article traces the development of mosaic theory in the federal courts, and argues that …

Protecting A Jewel Of A Trademark: Lessons Learned From The Dae Jang Geum Litigation On Using U.S. Law To Protect Trademarks Based On Imported Popular Culture Icons, Robert J. Kang

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

U.S. trademark law protects trademarks that have achieved a sufficient degree of fame. This principle extends to trademarks based on foreign popular culture icons, such as Japan's "Hello Kitty." But while that principle seems obvious, caselaw on this subject has been minimal. Without clear judicial guidance confirming that such trademarks are protectable, American infringers may have felt emboldened to misappropriate them. However, in 2007 and 2008, a United States District Court presided over a trademark litigation involving "Dae Jang Geum," the name of the most popular Korean television drama in history. By analyzing the three most important orders issued in …

The Agony Of War And A World Without Law, Josh Zetlin

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note analyzes Lewis Milestone's classic film A//.Quiet on the Western Front in order to illustrate the importance of law in society. Philosophers and legal theorists have pondered endlessly on the importance of law and the roles it serves. Building upon the concepts such as the "social contract," the creators of our legal system carved out particular areas of laws to satisfy specific societal wants and needs. Milestone's war epic reveals how war destroys these legal institutions. The chaos of war and unaccountability for immoral acts shatters the foundation of law, bringing great suffering to the characters in the film. …

Judicial Kryptonite: Superman And The Consideration Of Moral Rights In American Copyright, Sean Mcgilvray

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Superman is one of the most enduring and widely-recognized fictional characters of all time. But behind the scenes of his colorful adventures, a bitter struggle raged between his original creators and the publisher who currently owns the copyright. In a historic recent decision, the United States District Court for the Central District of California granted a summary judgment declaring that the heirs of the writer had recaptured a portion of the copyright in Superman through the Copyright Act's termination and recapture tight provisions. While, not expressly premised upon moral rights considerations, the judgment reflects many of the core values of …

Understanding And Regulating The Sport Of Mixed Martial Arts, Brendan S. Maher

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The past fifteen years have seen the emergence of a new sport in America and around the world: mixed martial arts ("MMA'). MMA is an interdisciplinary combat sport where participants engage in and combine a variety of fighting disciplines (e.g., kickboxing, wrestling, karate, jiu-jitsu, and so on) in a single match. In this Article, Professor Maher examines and analyzes the sport's evolution, tracing it from its shaggy, brutish beginnings to its current incarnation; articulates a pragmatic and comparative theory of sporting legitimacy; reviews and describes the state-based and administrative nature of MMA regulation; and highlights two reform possibilities of interest …

Cutting Cupid Out Of The Workplace: The Capacity Of Employees' Constitutional Privacy Rights To Constrain Employers' Attempts To Limit Off-Duty Intimate Associations, Anna C. Camp

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Romantic relationships among co-workers: should employers have the right to suppress such activity? Employers often view the widespread practice of dating among co-workers as highly problematic. In light of increased sexual harassment suits, many employers attempt to limit or eliminate intimate relationships among employees through the institution of "no-fraternization" policies. The strictest of these policies allow for legal termination of employees that violate the policy's terms, and can include total prohibition of intimate relationships among co-workers. Employees argue that such bans, which also affect employees' off-duty intimate association, should be held unconstitutionally invasive of employees' privacy rights or invalid on …

Technology And Copyright Law - Illuminating The Nfl's Blackout Rule In Game Broadcasting, Sonali Chitre

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Copyright is critical to protecting sports broadcasts, and new technology has evolved to disseminate these broadcasts to the many people that enjoy professional sports. Because of new digital rights in the copyright statute, the NFL has very strong copyright protections that cover Internet, satellite, television, and radio licensing of its broadcasts. A "blackout" blocks certain programs from being broadcast in a particular market. Attempting to incentivize fans to come to football games, the NFL "blacks out" games that are not sold out within seventytwo hours of game time within a seventy-five-mile radius of the stadium. The "blackout rule" has been …

Free Speech Or Trademark Protections: Do Advocacy Groups And Government Agencies Deserve Extra Protection, Max Landaw

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Since October 2009, the American judicial system has been posed with yet another lawsuit in the oft recurring battle between trademark protections and right to freedom of expression, specifically the right to parody. The Yes Men, a parody troop, in a stunt which confused numerous news outlets, held a press conference as "members" of the United States Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber responded by suing the Yes Men for, amongst other causes of action, trademark infringement pursuant to the Lanham Act. This note will first analyze the history of the debate between the conflicting right of free expression and consumer …

Will Twitter Be Following You In The Courtroom: Why Reporters Should Be Allowed To Broadcast During Courtroom Proceedings, Adriana C. Cervantes

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Thanks to micro-blogging and social networking tools, we no longer have to pick up a phone to call our friends and ask them what they are doing. Instead we turn to our laptop, BlackBerry, or iPhone to get instant information available to us through the Internet. Twitter is a key player in the Internet information exchange line-up and has made its way into one of the oldest and most archaic forums: the courtroom. The current law does not properly address whether reporters should be allowed to tweet, but this trend is becoming more prevalent. Twitter needs to be addressed with …

A Cause Of Action For "Passing Off/Associational Marketing", Margreth Barrett

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Reconciling Fair Use And Trademark Use, Margreth Barrett

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

(M)Ad Men: Using Persuasion Factors In Media Advertisements To Prevent A Tyranny Of The Majority On Ballot Propositions, Chris Chambers Goodman

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Mobile e-discovery spans the globe and creates a multitude of issues for litigants and the courts. The issue of privacy, jurisdiction, privilege, and consent intersect in the mobile space with users sending text messages, twittering, posting notes and videos on-line, and sharing pictures all in the span of a work day. Of course this is further complicated by the integration of the 24/7 workplace and the electronic discovery issues of retention, preservation, and production of the data that mobile devices create. This article examines these issues and provides an overview of some of the more common underlying mobile telecommunication technologies.

Applying The Rationales Of Patent Claim Construction Doctrines To Interpretation Of Patent Statutes, Grace Pak

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Statutory construction is often determinative in lawsuits. In that vein, which theory of statutory construction a court chooses to employ-whether textualism, intentionalism, or purposivism-is decidedly influential. This note argues that strict adherence to textualism in interpreting patent statutes leads to unsound results, while applying purposivism leads to sound results. To demonstrate, this note walks through the Supreme Court's textual approach in interpreting 35 U.S.C. § 271(0 in Microsoft v. AT&T, and contrasts that with the Federal Circuit's purposivist approach in interpreting the same statute. This note argues that the Federal Circuit's purposivist approach is more appropriate because it more closely …

More Than A Minor Inconvenience: The Case For Heightened Protection For Children Appearing On Reality Television, Katherine Neifeld

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Reality television is a genre that is both innovative in its use of traditional theatrical convention to display true life and paradoxical in its often perplexing definition of what is real. For minor children, however, the effects of participation in reality television production are heightened due to the unique nature of the genre. While protections for traditional child performers exist, the risks the minor participant on reality television faces are unique. The minor on reality television lacks formal recognition as a working child actor by the entertainment industry. Additionally, instead of playing a fictional character, the minor portrays his true …

Regulating Relationships Between Competing Broadcasters, Christopher S. Reed

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In response to mounting economic challenges in the media industry, some broadcasters have started entering into agreements whereby one station agrees to sell advertising, produce programming, or take over certain other functions of another station in the same market. Though such arrangements, often called local marketing or time brokerage agreements, are not particularly new in the broadcasting field, they have been used with increasing frequency in recent years.

This article examines the form and function of cooperative agreements among broadcasters and explores the reasons why such agreements are attractive business propositions for those who enter into them. It then describes …

Citizens United And The Future Of Fcc Content Regulation, Elizabeth Elices

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This paper examines the potential impact of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission upon content-based Federal Communications Commission regulations. Although Citizens United focused on Federal Election Commission regulations, the case reflects the various First Amendment doctrines favored by the current Court, and its reasoning may extend to other areas of regulated speech.

Part I of the paper will discuss several prominent areas of First Amendment doctrine as well as the roles of the FCC and the FEC. Part II will briefly desccribe the background and outcome of Citizens United. Finally, Part III will analyze several FCC regulations, primarily regarding content …

The New Digital Dating Behavior - Sexting: Teens' Explicit Love Letters: Criminal Justice Or Civil Liability, Terri Day

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This paper proposes a unique response to the explosive combination of teens, sex and technology. It discusses why most teen sexting does not meet the Ferber definition of child pornography; therefore, a civil remedy for the dignitary and emotional harm caused by the public dissemination of private sexual pictures is far superior to imposing criminal sanctions. The proposed statutory civil cause of action would hold parents vicariously liable for the harms caused by their children's sexting when done with actual malice. Recognizing that common law tort liability is legally unsustainable, this approach strikes a balance between protecting First Amendment rights …

The Role Of The Subconscious In Intellectual Property Law, Robin Feldman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

What's Sex Got To Do With It - A Cinematic Critique On The Arguments Against Same-Sex Marriage, Scott Norton

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

For years, the same governmental interests have been presented to justify prohibitions on same-sex marriage. Supporters of the ban argue that marriage promotes procreation and child-rearing, neither of which can supposedly be done within the confines of a same-sex relationship. This note suggests the movie I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry illustrates that in practice, these justifications have become antiquated. Instead of defining marriage as two individuals in a committed relationship, courts tend to inject social mores into their decisions regarding the legality of same-sex marriage.

C.B.C. Distribution And Marketing, Inc. V. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P.: The First Amendment Versus The Right Of Publicity In The Eighth Circuit, Surina Mann

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note examines the friction between the First Amendment and the right of publicity by examining the case of C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P., a case regarding fantasy league baseball. This note begins by discussing the legacy of the right of publicity, the policy goals that the right of publicity was devised to further, and several different tests that courts have designed to balance the right of publicity with the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. This note then goes on to illustrate the background of fantasy league baseball and critique the C.B.C. …