Internet Law Commons^™

Congress Does Not Hide Elephants In Mouse-Holes: How Vimeo Paid No Heed To That Caution, Mitch Bailey

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

With the passage of the 1976 Copyright Act, sound recordings fixed prior to February 15, 1972 remained under the protection of the state copyright laws where the works were registered. Some incredible culturally significant songs were fixed before February 15, 1972, including songs from “The Beatles, The Supremes, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, Barbara Streisand, and Marvin Gaye.” To date, state law protects the owner’s rights without interference from federal law, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).

Given its location, the Second Circuit significantly influenced the development of intellectual property law in the United States, especially copyright law. Many businesses …

Insta-Famous: Challenges And Obstacles Facing Bloggers And Social Media Personalities In Defamation Cases, Maureen T. Desimone

The Modern American

No abstract provided.

Typhoid Mario: Video Game Piracy As Viral Vector And National Security Threat, Andrew V. Moshirnia

Indiana Law Journal

Current academic and policy discussions regarding video game piracy focus on the economic losses inherent to copyright infringement. Unfortunately, this approach neglects the most significant implication of video game piracy: malware distribution. Copyright-motivated efforts to shut down file-sharing sites do little to reduce piracy and actually increase viral malware infection. Pirated video games are an ideal delivery device for malware, as users routinely launch unverified programs and forego virus detection. The illicit nature of the transaction forces users to rely almost entirely on the reputation of websites, uploaders, and other users to determine if a file is safe to download. …

Progress Or Profit: Reconsidering The Shortened Statutory Period Scheme, Max Stul Oppenheimer

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

To Filter Or Not To Filter? That Is The Question In Eu Copyright Reform, Giancarlo Frosio

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

This article discusses the proposed introduction in EU law of an obligation for hosting providers to conclude licencing agreements with copyright holders and ensure they are taking effective technological measures, such as Content ID technologies, to prevent copyright infringement on online platforms. This proposal is included in Article 13 and accompanying Recitals of the European Commission's Draft Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market of September 14, 2016, which forms an important part of the ongoing EU copyright reform. This article highlights the shortcomings of this proposed reform, which may fall short in terms of clarity, consistency with the …

Video Review; Routine Data Sharing Practices Place Video-Streaming Providers In The Crosshairs Of The Video Privacy Protection Act, Jeremiah P. Ledwidge

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (VPPA) creates a private cause of action for any consumer whose personally identifiable information has been disclosed by a video tape service provider to a third party. The rapid growth of media companies that provide free internet-based video-streaming services, and the technologically-advanced advertising methods employed to fund this business model, have created uncertainty regarding the specific consumer segments the VPPA is designed to protect. The extensive role that third-party providers play in the collection, analysis, and segmentation of user data in the personalized advertising process raises justifiable privacy concerns for consumers. Recent VPPA …

Piracy On Peer-To-Peer File Sharing Networks: Why A Streamlined Online Dispute Resolution System Should Not Be Forgotten In The Shadow Of A Federal Small Claims Tribunal, Naomi Gemmell

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This Article proposes application of an ADR system for resolving online copyright disputes related to P2P file sharing. Section II provides an overview of P2P file sharing networks and associated copyright infringement. Section III explores current approaches that fall short in resolving P2P copyright disputes, namely the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, litigation, and private agreements. Section IV examines the two primary proposed solutions to online copyright disputes: alternative dispute resolution and federal small claims. Section V recommends that a streamlined online dispute resolution system is necessary (even if a federal small claims tribunal is adopted), and concludes.

Three Chords And The Truth: Analyzing Copyright Infringement Claims Against Guitar Tablature Websites, Krist Caldwell

Oklahoma Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

Comment: United States V. Nosal Ii, Futoshi Dean Takatsuki

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Square Peg In A Round Hole: The Current State Of The Video Privacy Protection Act For Videos On The Internet And The Need For Updated Legislation, Schooner Sonntag

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

No abstract provided.

Commercial Creations: The Role Of End User License Agreements In Controlling The Exploitation Of User Generated Content, 16 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 382 (2017), Neha Ahuja

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

This article considers the current licensing regime used to control the exploitation of copyright protected works within the online interactive entertainment sector—particularly virtual worlds including multiplayer online games—to further author new copyrightable works. This article aims to identify the gaps that have arisen on account of the nature of these subsequently authored works and the potential for their exploitation under the said licensing regime. Users and the proprietors of virtual worlds often end up in conflict over the monetization and commercialization of user generated content on account of contradictory yet overlapping rights created by copyright law when controlled by contract …

A Cure For Twitch: Compulsory License Promoting Video Game Live-Streaming, Yang Qiu

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

New technology always bring challenges to Chinese legislation. In recent years, based on technological development of network transmission, video game streaming platforms like “Twitch.tv” have made “big” money. The problem, however, is that the streaming content on those platforms involve copyrightable video games, which infringe game publishers’ copyright, if the streaming platform lacks authorization. And only a few of the streaming platforms and streamers have licenses from game publishers. Nowadays, most game publishers allow streaming to exist because they view the streaming as free advertisement for their games. By making these allowances, the game publishers stay in their fans’ good …

Euro-Yearnings? Moving Toward A "Substantive" Registration-Based Trademark Regime, Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

In Alan Jay Lerner’s lyric, Professor Henry Higgins laments: "Why can’t a woman be more like a man?" Professor Rebecca Tushnet’s provocative article in effect urges that a U.S. trademark should be more like a European Union trademark, at least with respect to the relationship of registration to substantive protection. The article convincingly exposes the current incoherence in U.S. trademark law – a hybrid between “procedural” and “substantive” registration regimes, in which the traditional emphasis on use-based trademark rights undermines the business-planning benefits that flow from registration.

Before elaborating on the similarities between Tushnet’s suggested reforms of U.S. trademark law …

Fight Terror, Not Twitter: Insulating Social Media From Material Support Claims, Nina I. Brown

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Thrill Of Victory, And The Agony Of The Tweet: Online Social Media, The Non-Copyrightability Of Events, And How To Avoid A Looming Crisis By Changing Norms, Jason Richard Sheppard

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Sex, Videos, And Insurance: How Gawker Could Have Avoided Financial Responsibility For The $140 Million Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Verdict, Christopher French

Faculty Scholarship

On March 18, 2016, and March 22, 2016, a jury awarded Terry Bollea (a.k.a Hulk Hogan) a total of $140 million in compensatory and punitive damages against Gawker Media for posting less than two minutes of a video of Hulk Hogan having sex with his best friend’s wife. The award was based upon a finding that Gawker intentionally had invaded Hulk Hogan’s privacy by posting the video online. The case has been receiving extensive media coverage because it is a tawdry tale involving a celebrity, betrayal, adultery, sex, and the First Amendment. The case likely will be remembered by most …

To Show, Or Not To Show—That Was The Question: A Discussion Regarding The First Amendment Issues Implicated By The Sony Pictures Entertainment Cyberhack & The Interview Debacle, Chelsey Huso

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

No abstract provided.

Switch Hitters: How League Involvement In Daily Fantasy Sports Could End The Prohibition Of Sports Gambling, Jordan Meddy

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Whether in the form of lotto tickets or casino table games, gambling is legally permitted in some way in virtually every U.S. state. Yet, in all but a handful of jurisdictions, federal law prohibits wagering on sporting events or professional athletes in any form. Several economically challenged states, particularly New Jersey, have been trying to authorize sports gambling within their borders as a way to raise tax revenues and support their local gambling industries. While these attempts have thus far been unsuccessful, Daily Fantasy Sports have simultaneously experienced a meteoric rise, becoming a multi-billion dollar industry. This Note examines the …

Standing Up For Their Data: Recognizing The True Nature Of Injuries In Data Breach Claims To Afford Plaintiffs Article Iii Standing, Andrew Braunstein

Journal of Law and Policy

Over the last several years, data breaches have become increasingly more common, due in no small part to the failures of organizations charged with storing and protecting personal data. Consumers whose data has fallen victim to these breaches are more often turning to federal courts in attempts to be made whole from the loss of their information, whether simple credit card information or, as breaches become more sophisticated, social security information, medical and financial records, and more. These consumers are often being turned away from the courthouse, however, due to a failure of many federal courts to find that the …

Wide Right: How Isp Immunity And Current Laws Are Off The Mark In Protecting The Modern Athlete On Social Media, Dominick J. Mingione

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

“[Y]our tranny looking dad is a disgrace to American football,” “I would rape the shit out of her,” and “[The] [B]ears are easier than you on prom night,” are just a sampling of some of the alarmingly harassing tweets received by Chloe Trestman between the night of November 9, 2014 and November 10, 2014. Who is Chloe Trestman, and what could she have possibly done to warrant such abuse? Chloe’s father is Marc Trestman, the head coach of the Chicago Bears. And the twitter vitriol, or “twitriol,” directed toward Chloe was in response to the Bears’ blowout loss to their …

Transforming “Transformative Use”: The Growing Misinterpretation Of The Fair Use Doctrine, Caile Morris

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

Starting in late 2012, and continuing into late 2013, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York wreaked havoc on the traditional interpretation of the copyright infringement defense known as “fair use.” Two cases stemming from the advent of the Google Books Project are Author’s Guild, Inc. v. HathiTrust and Author’s Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc. These cases adopted a controversial interpretation of the fair use defense, codified in 17 U.S.C. § 107, when each case determined that the mass digitization of thousands of books constituted fair use merely because the digitization was what is known …

Professional Video Gaming: Piracy That Pays, 49 J. Marshall L. Rev. 217 (2015), Elizabeth Brusa

UIC Law Review

This Comment will focus on the legal implications of end user gamers who profit from the infringing use of copyrighted video gameplay content.

Weighing Down The Cloud: The Public Performance Right And The Internet After Aereo, Samuel J. Dykstra

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

In American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc., the Supreme Court concluded that Aereo’s streaming of broadcast television programs over the Internet to its subscribers was an infringing public performance under the Copyright Act of 1976 (“Copyright Act”). The Court interpreted the “Transmit Clause” of the Copyright Act to mean that when determining whether a performance created by a transmission is to “the public” the relevant audience is not that of a particular transmission, but of the work being transmitted. Thus, it did not matter that Aereo operated by creating unique copies and via separate transmissions available to only one …

Did Copyright Kill The Radio Star? Why The Recorded Music Industry And Copyright Act Should Welcome Webcasters Into The Fold, 14 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 292 (2015), Patrick Koncel

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

The Copyright Act has not kept pace with the times, and the next revolution is going full stream ahead. Rather than adapt, entrenched interests at the Copyright table push for more protection, while new technologies are demonized and underrepresented. The resulting Copyright Act’s provisions relating to internet-based radio, ranging from passive over-the-air broadcasts to fully interactive music hosting sites, are a patchwork of accommodations and concessions to these interests. For all non-interactive services, licensing music typically occurs within the Copyright Act’s compulsory licensing system. For interactive webcasters, licensing negotiations take place with the copyright holders directly. These negotiations have proven …

The Conflict Between An Athlete’S Right Of Publicity And The First Amendment, 15 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 117 (2015), Edward Kuester

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

The recent rise of fantasy sports has created a conflict between an athlete’s right of publicity and the First Amendment of the Constitution. The legal question being discussed is whether athletes have a right of publicity in their identity, specifically their performance statistics and biographical information. If a right of publicity violation does exist, courts will have to determine whether a fantasy provider’s First Amendment privilege can prevail against an athlete’s publicity rights. This comment examines recent litigation surrounding athletes’ identities and the problems courts have in balancing the conflict between an athlete’s right of publicity and the First Amendment. …

Total Eclipse Of The Tweet: How Social Media Restrictions On Student And Professional Athletes Affect Free Speech, Tehrim Umar

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Piecemeal State Legislation: The Wrong Way To Divide The Internet Poker Pie?, Peter T. Busch

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Myth Of Obsolete Obscenity, Jennifer M. Kinsley

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Danger In The Dmca Safe Harbors: The Need To Narrow What Constitutes Red Flag Knowledge, Hank Fisher

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Surfing For Protection: Why Websites Should Be Categorically Excluded From Trade Dress Protection, Matt Mikels

CommLaw Conspectus: Journal of Communications Law and Technology Policy (1993-2015)

No abstract provided.