Intellectual Property Law Commons^™

Licensing As Digital Rights Management, From The Advent Of The Web To The Ipad, Reuven Ashtar

Reuven Ashtar

This Article deals with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s anti-circumvention provision, Section 1201, and its relationship to licensing. It argues that not all digital locks and contractual notices qualify for legal protection under Section 1201, and attributes the courts’ indiscriminate protection of all Digital Rights Management (DRM) measures to the law’s incoherent formulation. The Article proposes a pair of filters that would enable courts to distinguish between those DRM measures that qualify for protection under Section 1201, and those that do not. The filters are shown to align with legislative intent and copyright precedent, as well as the approaches recently …

Concepts Of Intellectual Property In The Roman Tradition, Erin Guldiken, Marianina Demetri Olcott

Dr. Marianina Olcott and Erin Guldiken

The current study concerns concepts of intellectual property in the Roman tradition first century BCE through forth century CE. It complements a previous study published in the Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA (Summer 2002, vol.49, No.4) which dealt with ancient Athenian concepts of intellectual property. The current study as in the earlier study of the Athenian tradition shows that ancient concepts of intellectual property are remarkably similar to modern concepts, as embodied in American case law (Title 17) and guidelines on plagiarism formulated by the modern academic establishment. Our plan of investigation is as follows: First we …

What’S A “Bunker”?: The Curious Case Of How Dustin Johnson Lost The 2010 Pga Championship And Why The Pga Must Revise The Now Infamous Local Rule At Whistling Straights, Brian Pelanda

Brian Pelanda

This article discusses the problematic rule at the heart of the historic controversy that surrounded the 2010 PGA Championship and cost Dustin Johnson an opportunity to enter a playoff to contend for the tournament’s $1.35 million grand prize. I employ general principles of statutory construction to demonstrate how the unique Local Rule that the PGA implemented for the tournament at Whistling Straights impermissibly altered the definition of a sand bunker under the Official Rules of Golf. This issue is important not just because of how the problematic Local Rule harmed Dustin Johnson, but also because the PGA has insisted that …

Determining The Scope Of Trademark Rights By Recourse To Value Judgements Related To The Effectiveness Of Competition - The Demise Of The Trademark-Use Requirement And The Functional Analysis Of Trademark Law, Apostolos Chronopoulos

Apostolos Chronopoulos

This paper examines the doctrinal implications of the principle of complementarity between intellectual property rights and competition law in the field of trademarks. The systematic adherence of trademark rights to the wider set of norms regulating the competitive process implies that their teleology should take into consideration value judgements related to the effectiveness of competition. Neither the limiting concept of trademark use nor the legal recognition of some “economic trademark functions” is apt to fulfil this legal task. It is therefore submitted that the normative valuations flowing out of competition law should be implemented through a purposive interpretation of the …

The Not So Great Wall Of China: Intellectual Property Enforcement Issues March On In The People’S Republic, Anna K. Liu

Anna Liu

No abstract provided.

Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights: Industry Variation And Technology Diffusion, Olena Ivus

Olena Ivus

The WTO inspired strengthening of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in developing countries remains highly controversial even more than 15 years after the 1994 TRIPs agreement. This paper assesses how a strengthening of IPRs affects international technology diffusion by altering the volume of high-tech exports into developing countries. A simple North-South general equilibrium model in which industries differ in their imitation rates is developed. Stronger IPRs encourage Northern firms in a wider range of industries to start exporting. Exports in industries with the highest risk of imitation rise, while exports in other industries may fall. International technology diffusion does not necessarily …

Copyright As Tort, Assaf Jacob, Avihay Dorfman

Avihay Dorfman

In these pages we seek to integrate two claims. First, we argue that, taken to their logical conclusions, the considerations that support a strict form of protection for tangible property rights do not call for a similar form of protection when applied to the case of copyright. More dramatically, these considerations demand, on pain of glaring inconsistency, a substantially weaker protection for copyright. In pursuing this claim, we show that the form of protecting property rights (including rights in tangibles) is, to an important extent, a feature of certain normal, though contingent, facts about the human world. Second, the normative …

The Changing Nature Of Books And The Uneasy Case For Copyright, Niva Elkin-Koren

Niva Elkin-Koren

Digital technology penetrated the publishing industry decades ago, but it was only in the past two years, that the digital revolution finally reached the book industry, as eBooks became a viable alternative to printed books.

eBooks are not simply a fancy package for buying and selling books. They are transforming print culture. They are changing the nature of books as we know them, giving rise to new social practices of writing and reading. eBooks and digital libraries are also transforming the publishing and bookselling industries, enabling new methods of production and distribution, shaking the boundaries between the traditional players, and …

Commons / Commodity: Peer Production Caught In The Web Of The Commercial Market, Bingchun Meng, Fei Wu

Philip F Wu

The development of digital technology and computer networks has enabled many kinds of online collaboration. This article examines Zimuzu, a Chinese case of online peer production, which provides an opportunity to extend our understanding of how the tensions between the commodity and commons production models are being articulated in an online setting. Using empirical evidence collected from face-to-face interviews, online posts and online ethnographic observation, our analysis demonstrates that there is constant negotiation over which aspects of the two seemingly opposing models will be adopted by the community. We argue that it is important to conceptualize the peer production process …

Digital Exhaustion, Aaron K. Perzanowski, Jason M. Schultz

Aaron K. Perzanowski

As digital networks emerge as the dominant means of distributing copyrighted works, the first sale doctrine is increasingly marginalized. The limitations first sale places on the exclusive right of distribution are of little importance when the alienation and use of copies entails their reproduction. This fact of the modern copyright marketplace has led to calls for statutory clarification of digital first sale rights. Acknowledging the obstacles to legislative intervention, this Article argues that courts are equipped today to limit copyright exclusivity in order to enable copy owners to make traditionally lawful uses of their copies, including resale through secondary markets. …

The European Enforcement Order For Uncontested Claims (Regulation 805/2004): Free Circulation Of Enforceable Titles And Harmonization Of Procedures In The European Judicial Area [In Greek], Nikitas E. Hatzimihail

Nikitas E Hatzimihail

The article is a primer on the EU Regulation 805/2004 establishing a European Enforcement Order for Uncontested Claims. It places the Regulation within the context of EU activity on private international law and procedural matters and describes its basic features

Country Of Origin And Internet Publication: Applying The Berne Convention In The Digital Age, Sampsung Xiaoxiang Shi, Brian Fitzgerald, Cheryl Foong, Kylie Pappalardo

xiaoxiang shi

In this article, we argue that even if a work first published online can be considered to be simultaneously published all over the world it does not follow that any country can assert itself as the “country of origin” of the work for the purpose of imposing domestic copyright formalities. More specifically, we argue that the meaning of “United States work” under the U.S. Copyright Act should be interpreted in line with the presumption against extraterritorial application of domestic law to limit its application to only those works with a real and substantial connection to the United States. To be …

(Re)Introducing Formalities In Copyright : Towards More Open Content?, Severine Dusollier

Severine Dusollier

Many voices have been recently heard in favor of the reintroduction of formalities in copyright law, in order to counteract the rapid expansion of copyright protection and the ensuing diminishing of the public domain. Formalities have been considered as a way to limit the automatic granting of copyright, to shorten its duration or to make its enforcement less easy. This paper examines the relevance of a possible reintroduction of formalities for the enhancement and safeguarding of the public domain. It first considers the formalities the introduction of which (or reintroduction in some countries) has been proposed, under two lenses: their …

Peer-To-Peer Filesharing And Copyright: What Could Be The Role Ofcollective Management, Severine Dusollier, Caroline Colin

Severine Dusollier

No abstract provided.

Let The Trademark "Bully" Be!, Man K. Huynh

Man K. Huynh

Trademark owners who use their trademark rights to harass and intimidate other businesses beyond what the law might be reasonably interpreted to allow are considered trademark “bullies.” The hallmark of a bully is the use of supposed intimidation tactics, but a trademark owner’s rights can be lost or restricted through a failure to control how third parties use the mark, or even similar marks. This article will attempt to explore the inherent conflict that exists in this juncture of trademark law.

“Complete Domestic Act Of Infringement” Supports The Application Of The “First Sale” Doctrine To Goods Manufactured Abroad., Man K. Huynh

Man K. Huynh

On December 13, 2010 the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed a lower court’s decision against Costco Wholesale Corp. and in favor of Omega, S.A. The divided Supreme Court agreed with the lower court that the “first-sale doctrine” does not apply to imported works manufactured abroad, and can be used as a defense. The basis of this case is rooted in 17 U.S.C. §109 which states that the “. . . owner of a particular copy or phonorecord lawfully made under this title, or any person authorized by such owner, is entitled, without the authority of the copyright owner, …

The Future Of The European Requirement For An Invention: Inherent Patentability As A Pre- And Post-Patent Determinant, Justine Pila

Justine Pila

The purpose of this chapter is to develop the reflections contained in the conclusion of a recent book (The Requirement for an Invention in Patent Law (Oxford: OUP, 2010)). Specifically, it is to propose a method for applying the requirement for an invention under Article 52(1) of the EPC, including a definition of the invention itself. I argue that while the proposal does not solve all definitional and methodological issues regarding that requirement, it is nonetheless justified on four central grounds. First, it reorients the European patent system around its central aim of supporting industrial growth. Second, it explains much …

Letter From The Editor (Common Law: An Analysis Of Media Misconceptions), Kiran Kanti Patel

Kiran Kanti Patel, Esq.

No abstract provided.

A Financial Institution Claiming That A Possessor Bank Wrongfully Refused To Return Loans And Proceeds To Which A Trustee Had Legal Title Must Utilize The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery And Enforcement Act’S Administrative Claims Process Before Turning To The Federal Court For De Novo Judicial Review: Bank Of America National Association V. Colonial Bank, Kiran Kanti Patel

Kiran Kanti Patel, Esq.

No abstract provided.

Trademarks And The Right To Practice, Juan Lapenne

Juan Lapenne

No abstract provided.