Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons^™

Smashing The Copyright Act To Make Room For The Mashup Artist: How A Four-Tiered Matrix Better Accommodates Evolving Technology And Needs Of The Entertainment Industry, Caroline Kinsey

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

With the rise of online blogging, social networking platforms, and videosharing sites such as YouTube and Yahoo Video, it is now possible for one individual to rival the span of entire media empires from one's basement computer. Commonly known as the Web 2.0 phenomenon, the combination of these technological advancements with video platforms that encourage users to "engage, create, and share content online" has fundamentally transformed the music industry. No longer are fans passive listeners, but instead, with the click of a mouse and access to the Internet, they become "publisher[s], TV network[s], radio station[s], movie studio[s], record label[s], and …

An Actual Problem In First Amendment Jurisprudence: Examining The Immediate Impact Of Brown's Proof-Of-Causation Doctrine On Free Speech And Its Compatibility With The Marketplace Theory, Clay Calvert, Matthew D. Bunker

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This article analyzes the immediate impact on First Amendment jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court's "direct causal link" requirement adopted in 2011 in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association. In embracing an empirically focused proof-of-causation doctrine, Brown marked the first time in the Court's history it had used the phrase "direct causal link" in any free speech case. But just one year later, in a very different factual context in United States v. Alvarez, the Court struck down a federal law making it a crime to lie about earning military medals. In December 2012, a federal judge used Brown's "direct causal …

Internet Freedom And Computer Abuse, Lothar Determann

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ("CFAA") has a bad reputation. It is associated with constitutional law challenges and community outrage. It played a role in the tragic suicide of Aaron Swartz, computer programmer, Internet activist and CFAA defendant. It has been decried as a basis for abuse of justice, which is ironic, given its title and focus on punishing abuse. It has been called "the worst law in technology" and "the most outrageous criminal law you've never heard of." It is loathed and feared as a threat to Internet freedom.

A particular concern is that the law could criminalize …

The Overexpansion Of The Communications Decency Act Safe Harbor, Joey Ou

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Congress enacted the CDA as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, due to concerns over pornography on the Internet. Section 230 was added to support and encourage the proliferation of information on the Internet. However, this section of the CDA has since developed into one of the most influential cyberspace laws protecting websites and ISPs from liability. State and federal courts have interpreted section 230 protection expansively, conferring broad immunity upon websites, including immunity for violations of the Fair Housing Act ("FHA"). This is especially significant because "the Internet has become 'a unique and wholly new medium of worldwide …

Tethering Applications And Open Internet Rules For The Mobile Broadband: Lessons From The Fcc-Verizon Settlement, Matthew Tonner

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This note investigates the regulation of mobile broadband using tethering applications as an example of how to apply net neutrality rules. Part II looks at the recent history of the FCC Open Internet regulations and the rapid advances in the speed, capabilities, and prevalence of mobile broadband as a primary means of Internet access. Part III discusses the 2012 settlement reached between Verizon and the FCC over Verizon's request that Google remove tethering apps from the Android Store. Following that, Part IV assesses the merits of the FCC's current approach to enforcing net neutrality policy via contractual provisions attached to …

Baring Inequality: Revisiting The Legalization Debate Through The Lens Of Strippers' Rights, Sheerine Alemzadeh

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

The debate over legalization of prostitution has fractured the feminist legal community for over a quarter century. Pro-legalization advocates promote the benefits attending government regulation of prostitution, including the ability to better prosecute sex crimes, increase public health and educational resources for individuals in the commercial sex trade, and apply labor and safety regulations to the commercial sex industry in the same manner as they are applied to other businesses. Some anti-legalization advocates identify themselves as "new abolitionists," and argue that government recognition of prostitution reinforces gender inequality. Often, this debate is framed in the hypothetical: What would happen if …

Self-Replicating Technologies And The Challenge For The Patent And Antitrust Laws, Daryl Lim

Faculty Scholarly Works

Few patented inventions challenge the traditional boundaries of the patent and antitrust laws like those that are capable of multiplying as they are used. These self-replicating technologies are embedded in our food, fortify our vaccines, and form the computer code upon which the information age is based. These inventions create an inherent conflict between patentees and their customers. The conflict arises because every customer could become competitors as the product replicates, potentially making every first sale the patentee's last. They also challenge how we think about fundamental issues of ownership as well as innovation and market competition, and make it …

The Lawyer Who Built Titletown: Gerald Clifford, The Green Bay Packers And Community Ownership, 14 U. Denv. Sports & Ent. L.J. 3 (2013), Maureen Collins

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

When Toning Shoes Strengthen Nothing More Than Likelihood Of Lawsuit: Why The Federal Trade Commission Needs Guidelines Regarding Proper Substantiation Of Fitness Advertisements, Heather M. Mandelkehr

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

National Football League General Managers: An Analysis Of The Responsibilities, Qualifications, And Characteristics, Christopher R. Deubert, Glenn M. Wong, Daniel Hatman

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Where Is Concussion Litigation Headed? The Impact Of Riddell, Inc. V. Schutt Sports, Inc. On Brain Injury Law, Cailyn Reilly

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

People V. Diaz, Senate Bill 914 And The Fourth Amendment, Caitlin Keane

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

After the Diaz decision in January, Senator Mark Leno, a Democrat representing San Francisco, took matters into his own hands and drafted Senate Bill 914. In short, the bill would have overturned the Court's decision and required law enforcement to obtain a search warrant from a neutral magistrate before searching arrestees' portable electronic devices. The bill passed with overwhelming support from both political parties in the State Assembly and State Senate and needed only Governor Brown's signature or tacit approval to become law. Governor Brown vetoed the bill in October 2011, stating, "[t]he courts are better suited to resolve the …

Imposing A Duty In An Online World: Holding The Webhost Liable For Cyberbullying, Elizabeth M. Jaffe

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

In light of fettle attempts by state legislatures to subdue the growing cyberbullying epidemic, the time has come to create a civil duty upon those who can control the problem-web hosts and webservers. While the general "foreseeable plaintiff' duty set forth by then-Chief Judge Cardozo in PaIsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. has controlled the duty of care owed to the person of another for the last century, Judge Andrews' dissent may hold the key to unlock this new societal problem: "Every one owes to the world at large the duty of refraining from those acts that may unreasonably threaten …

Minor Changes: Altering Current Coogan Law To Better Protect Children Working In Entertainment, Danielle Ayalon

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Coogan Law provides statutory authority designating income earned by a minor under an entertainment contract as the minor's property, rather than the property of the minor's parents. These statutes were first enacted in 1939, substantially revised in 2000, and subsequently amended in 2004. But despite these ongoing efforts to provide financial protection, the adverse interests of parents and their children persist. The concern that many child entertainers are not yet adequately protected invites close scrutiny of the law to assess whether changes are still required to assure children in the entertainment business have optimal protection.

This note examines the current …

Stars In Their Eyes: The Dominance Of The Celebrity Brand And Intellectual Property Norms Protection Through Fan Goodwill, Naeha Prakash

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

The widespread celebrity culture in today's society has signaled a shift from celebrity product endorsers to celebrity brands. Right of publicity and trademark laws leave a gap that does not adequately protect a brand as a whole. Rather, these laws make a distinction between the celebrity identity and the product, limiting protection of a brand that includes both components. Social norms found in the interaction between celebrities and fans can provide an alternate form of protection that reinforces ownership rights found in pure intellectual property. This article argues that a celebrity brand should foster fan goodwill to build a brand …

The Disappearing Fourth Wall: Law, Ethics, And Experiential Theatre, Mary Lafrance

Scholarly Works

The cutting edge of experiential theatre blurs the lines between performer and audience. Both the performer and the audience are vulnerable. Audiences may be subject to assaultive or disturbing behavior or images. The performance may take place in an unconventional venue that poses safety hazards. A single audience member may be alone with a performer, who may engage in provocative or shocking behavior, including verbal abuse or touching. The performer may invite similar conduct from the participant. Typically, the participant does not know in advance what will take place and does not sign a waiver. While the performer has a …

Concussion And Football: Failures To Respond By The Nfl And The Medical Profession, David Orentlicher

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Mandated Disclosure In Literary Hybrid Speech, Zahr K. Said

Articles

This Article, written for the Washington Law Review’s 2013 Symposium, The Disclosure Crisis, argues that hidden sponsorship creates a form of non-actionable influence rather than causing legally cognizable deception that mandatory disclosure can and should cure.

The Article identifies and calls into question three widely held assumptions underpinning much of the regulation of embedded advertising, or hidden sponsorship, in artistic communications. The first assumption is that advertising can be meaningfully discerned and separated from communicative content for the purposes of mandating disclosure, even when such advertising occurs in “hybrid speech.” The second assumption is that the hidden promotional aspects …

Self-Replicating Technologies And The Challenge For The Patent And Antitrust Laws, 32 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 131 (2013), Daryl Lim

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Few patented inventions challenge the traditional boundaries of the patent and antitrust laws like those that are capable of multiplying as they are used. These self-replicating technologies are embedded in our food, fortify our vaccines, and form the computer code upon which the information age is based. These inventions create an inherent conflict between patentees and their customers. The conflict arises because every customer could become competitors as the product replicates, potentially making every first sale the patentee's last. They also challenge how we think about fundamental issues of ownership as well as innovation and market competition, and make it …

The Law And Science Of Video Game Violence: What Was Lost In Translation?, 31 Cardozo Arts & Ent. L.J. 297 (2013), William K. Ford

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

"[A]s a general rule," writes Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes, "courts don't do science very well."' Susan Haack, a professor of law and philosophy, elaborates on why this may be true, offering several reasons for "deep tensions" between science and law. The reasons offered by Haack may be less of a concern where the dispute involves litigation against the government on significant questions of public policy. Recent decisions assessing the constitutionality of laws restricting minors' access to violent video games therefore offer an opportunity to examine how well the courts handled scientific evidence in a situation lacking some of the …