Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Intellectual Property Rights And The Gatt: United States Goals In The Uruguay Round, Mark L. Damschroder

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The pursuit of protection of IP rights is a valuable goal both for the United States and the rest of the world community. Such rights promote creativity and the advancement of knowledge, as well as fuel the domestic economy and improve the position of the United States vis-a-vis the other trading nations of the world. With the growing interdependence of the global economy, there is no time like the present to lay the foundation for a system of dispute settlement of such trade matters. Economic interdependence will continue to increase, and the problems of international trade in, and piracy of, …

Who Cares Who Wrote "Shakespeare"?, Peter Jaszi

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Obviously, a great many people, on both (or all) sides of the "authorship question," and they care a lot. The real question is why. Proponents of various authorship claimants compete in their protestations of admiration for the plays and poems in controversy. But if these works are in fact so universally and inexhaustibly fertile of significance, why should any admirer of them waste precious time, which might better be devoted to the study of the texts themselves, arguing about an ultimately irresoluble historical puzzle? And why is so much of the discussion conducted at such a relatively high pitch of …

Blanket Music Licensing And Local Television: An Historical Accident In Need Of Reform, Frederick C. Boucher

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Home Audio Recording Act: An Inappropriate Respose To The Home Taping Question, Teresa E. Sulyok

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note examines the controversy over consumers' home audio taping activities and finds the legislation under consideration by Congress an inappropriate remedy. Initially, this Note reviews the proposed legislation introduced in Congress addressing the issue of home audio taping. The Note then surveys the rationale behind the Sony decision, which determined that video recorder manufacturers were not liable as contributory infringers, and advocates that audio recorder manufacturers receive similar treatment. Next, this Note analyzes whether home audio recording may constitute fair use under the federal copyright law. This Note concludes that even if certain forms of home audio recording are …

Masking Copyright Decisionmaking: The Meaninglessness Of Substantial Similarity, Amy B. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

Traditionally courts have place great weight on the issue of substantial similarity in adjudicating copyright infringement lawsuits. Once success is proven, a court will usually find infringement if the works are viscerally determined to be substantially similar. This Article criticizes the traditional approach as failing adequately to distinguish copying from misappropriation, failing adequately to distinguish ideas from expression, failing to provide adequate guidelines for determining misappropriation, and as overlapping with fair use determinations. The Article also criticizes variations on the traditional approach imposed by the Third and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal as not remedying the traditional approach's fundamental shortcomings. …

Free Speech, Copyright, And Fair Use, L. Ray Patterson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The copyright clause provides that "[the Congress shall have Power... To promote the Progress of Science. ..by securing for limited Times to Authors .. .the exclusive Right to their . . .writings ...."I The first amendment provides that "Congress shall make no law. . .abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ."..."

Three modern developments portend a conflict between these two clauses of the Constitution: (1) the emergence of the doctrine that free speech encompasses the right to have access to, as well as the right to disseminate, ideas; (2) the elimination of the requirement of publication, which …

Computer Software Copyright Infringement: The Second Generation, Jeffrey A. Berkowitz

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Copyright Law And Your Neighborhood Bar And Grill: Recent Developments In Performance Rights And The Section 110(5) Exemption, David E. Shipley

Scholarly Works

This Article attempts to clarify the chaotic state of the law concerning performance rights. First, it briefly summarizes the history of this right and discusses some of the problems Congress sought to resolve when it passed the 1976 Act. Second, it outlines several of the Act's key provisions on the performance right. Finally, it discusses the recent decisions which have interpreted these provisions and analyzes their impact on the activities of commercial establishments. These decisions show that the pertinent sections of the 1976 Act provide reasonably clear guidelines outlining the ways in which copyrighted works can be publicly performed or …

Rejection Of Computer Software Licensing Agreements In Bankruptcy, Viktoria L. Gres

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Note On The Desert Theory Paper - 1986, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

The desert theory paper may be recast under the title: “The Misappropriation Explosion: Desert Theory in Intellectual Property Law” or “Desert Theory Misapplied.”

Letter To Bruce Ackerman, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

I shall be heading back to Rutgers for classes shortly, and I'm sending you a draft of the "Copyright and Copy-privilege" piece in the hope of receiving some additional comments before I enter into the final "polishing" stages later this month. As you know from my last note, the suggestions you made have proved extremely useful -- the title is the least of it. Among other things, your suggestions for reorganization led, indirectly, to a way of unifying the piece on copyright and contract with another piece I've been working on, regarding copyright and tort. I'm very pleased with the …

Letter To Professor Bruce Ackerman, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

As I said in my last note, your suggestions for the "Copyright and Copy-privilege" paper have proven extremely valuable. (The title is the least of it.) The reorganization you suggested has allowed the paper to blossom, and I'm extremely pleased with the results.

Simultaneous Rediffusion By Cable Television Operators In Canada And The Problems Of Nonpayment Of Copyright Royalties, Larry Seidenberg

Penn State International Law Review (1982 - 2011)

This Article surveys a controversial issue involving both Canadian and United States copyright interest groups. Simultaneous rediffusion involves the unauthorized reception and retransmission or rediffusion of copyrighted United States broadcast programming by foreign cable television systems. The issue has important ramifications for a future revision of the copyright by the Canadian Parliament as indicated in the Revision of Copyright Subcommittee Report of October 1985 and is useful to an examination of United States copyright principles and the international role of the United States in copyright.

This author's conclusion is that compulsory license for simultaneous rediffusion of broadcast signals is a …

Tax Policy: Copyrights And Patents, Madelyn Shohen Cantor

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Copyright Liability For Performances Of Musical Works: Use Of Background Radio Music In The Aftermath Of Twentieth Century Music Corp. V. Aiken

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Righting The Titled Scale: Expansion Of Artists' Rights In The United States, Colleen P. Battle

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note focuses on the expansion of artists' rights in the United States, specifically the moral rights of paternity and integrity. It explores the history of judicial denial of moral rights and the attempt to gain protection through traditional causes of action. The Note then analyzes barriers to adoption of the moral rights doctrine, with emphasis on the challenge to traditional property concepts. The California Art Preservation Act of 1980 and the 1984 Artists' Authorship Act of New York are discussed and evaluated. This Note recommends adoption of the California statute as the model for future artists' rights legislation and …

Conflicts Between Copyright And The First Amendment After Harper & Row, Publishers V. Nation Enterprises, David E. Shipley

Scholarly Works

The relationship between copyright and the first amendment has been discussed repeatedly in the past fifteen years. A free speech privilege has been asserted as a defense in many copyright infringement actions, and the topic has been the subject of lively academic debate. Although no court has held an infringement claim to be defeated by a first amendment defense, considerable attention has been paid to the potential conflict between copyright and free speech interests. Commentators have speculated that in some situations copyright protection could impermissibly abridge the first amendment. The United States Supreme Court's decision in Harper & Row, Publishers …

Copyright And Fee-Based Copying Services, James S. Heller

Library Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Enduring Contributions Of Professor Nimmer, J. H. Reichman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Note On The Four Faces Of The "Sharing Benefits" Issue - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

Any overall theory must first be capable of describing what it seeks to theorize about. This article will now do that. In giving a taxonomy, the article may be making its greatest contribution. Lockean theory will hardly be the last word in i/p unification theory. But I will have at least set the terms for debate so we can finally speak clearly to each other, articulate the issues, see their implications.

Fairness Doctrine Limitations On Broadcasters' Copyright Of News And Public Affairs: The Liberty To Argue In The Marketplace Of Ideas, Susan E. Morton

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Draft Of Desert Theory - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

The first condition of Lockean theory is that property applies only to labor which appropriates something out of the common. Similarly, possession theory in American law applies only to appropriations of things which are unclaimed. While an intellectual product might seem to be drawn out of the ether, it can in fact be a difficult question whether its producers have drawn on more than commonly-owned resources.

Note On The Three Faces Of The "Sharing Benefits" Issue - 1985, Wendy J. Gordon

Scholarship Chronologically

The legal treatment of the sharing-benefits issue runs along the following Hohfeldian continuum.

Protecting Research: Copyright, Common-Law Alternatives, And Federal Preemption, David E. Shipley, Jeffrey S. Hays

Scholarly Works

Under federal copyright law, an author's expression is protected but his ideas and discoveries are not. Professor Shipley explores the possibility of expanding copyright to protect the research of nonfiction authors, but concludes that such an expansion would undermine federal copyright policy. State-law remedies exist that will provide such protection if they are not preempted by federal law. Professor Shipley concludes that most contract claims and some misappropriation claims will survive preemption and therefore are a means by which nonfiction authors can protect their research.

Dowling V. United States, Lewis F. Powell, Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

Copyrightability Of Computer Operating Systems

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fair Use Old And New: The Betamax Case And Its Forebears, M. B.W. Sinclair

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Blanket Licensing Of Music Performing Rights: Possible Solutions To The Copyright-Antitrust Conflict, Mary K. Kennedy

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Recent Development compares Buffalo Broadcasting with other blanket licensing decisions and predicts the reversal of Buffalo Broadcasting on appeal. Part II of this Recent Development discusses the organization and operation of the performing rights societies. Part III focuses on the pertinent antitrust principles and the history of antitrust litigation between the performing rights societies and various licensees. Part IV examines recent decisions addressing blanket licenses in which courts have used similar analyses yet reached differing results. Part V analyzes possible solutions to the conflict between antitrust and copyright laws in the blanket licensing context and concludes that resolution of …

Copyright And The Art Museum, Marshall A. Leaffer, Rhoda L. Berkowitz

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Fair Use And New Technology: The Appropriate Standards To Apply, Adrienne J. Marsh

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.