Prof. Doug Lichtman, UCLA School of Law July 9, 2013 It is almost impossible for a judge or jury to accurately determine the amount of money that a patent holder should be paid to compensate for past patent infringement.  To run the math right, that determination requires a rich understanding of the technology at issue; [...]

Prof. Randal C. Picker, University of Chicago Law School June 25, 2013 I am delighted to be teaching Copyright again next year after not doing so for three years and so I find my mind drawn each day to topics for the class.  The first day of class is very much a day for fundamentals [...]

Prof. Jane C. Ginsburg, Columbia University School of Law June 18, 2013 In an earlier column, I addressed a recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) bearing on the place of “making available” protected content over the Internet.  The CJEU determined that, for purposes of personal jurisdiction over a foreign [...]

Prof. Doug Lichtman, UCLA School of Law June 5, 2013 As a faculty member who teaches copyright law at both the Law School and the Business School, I receive a large number of emails each week with questions about how copyright law works in the real world.  The statute, my students realize, says whatever it [...]

Prof. James Gibson, University of Richmond School of Law April 29, 2013 In my previous entry in this series, I discussed the Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, involving the unauthorized resale in the United States of textbooks purchased overseas.  Indeed, the Kirtsaeng case and the issue it presented have [...]

Prof. Jane C. Ginsburg, Columbia University School of Law April 23, 2013 In 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided Cartoon Network LP, LLLP v. CSC Holdings, Inc., 536 F.3d 121 (2d Cir. 2008), a case involving a “remote DVR” service that enabled Cablevision’s customers to designate programs to store in [...]

Rodney A. Smolla, President, Furman University April 16, 2013 A claim of copyright infringement that is deemed objectively unreasonable may occasionally result in the imposition of attorneys’ fees against the plaintiff alleging infringement.  Section 505 of the Copyright Act allows a court to award the prevailing party a “reasonable attorney’s fee.”1 In SOFA Entertainment, Inc. [...]

Prof. Randal C. Picker, University of Chicago Law School April 1, 2013 The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kirtsaeng will undoubtedly receive a great deal of attention from copyright lawyers.  Jim Gibson took a run at the decision last week on the blog and you should be sure to read that.  The decision involves three [...]

Prof. James Gibson, University of Richmond School of Law March 26, 2013 In two past entries in this series, here and here, I discussed whether copyrighted goods manufactured abroad may be resold in the United States without having to get a new license from the copyright owner.  When the goods are pirated – manufactured illegally [...]

Prof. Doug Lichtman, UCLA School of Law March 11, 2013 I had the chance last month to participate in a public discussion about Facebook and, in particular, Facebook’s privacy policies.  I am not a privacy expert by any means.  And I barely use my Facebook account.  But, in preparing for the event, I found myself [...]