Prof. Rodney A. Smolla Duke University School of Law October 29, 2013 In a prior IP Viewpoints piece, I wrote about a colorful copyright infringement case brought by a professional photographer, Patrick Cariou, against the well-known and highly successful “appropriation artist” Richard Prince, a case in which the photographer Cariou prevailed against the artist Prince [...]
FCC Head Mignon Clyburn, Attorney Floyd Abrams To Speak at D.C. Event FOR RELEASE: October 21, 2013 Contact: Richard T. Kaplar The Media Institute 703-243-5700 Arlington, Va., Oct. 21, 2013 – The Media Institute will honor Senator Gordon Smith, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, and Josh Sapan, president and CEO [...]
Prof. Jane C. Ginsburg, Columbia University School of Law October 16, 2013 Review of Robert Levine, Free Ride: How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business, and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back (Doubleday 2011) [Author’s note: Although Free Ride was published two years ago, the more recent Spanish edition, and a request to [...]
Prof. Doug Lichtman, UCLA School of Law October 10, 2013 Like many readers here, I made mix tapes back when I was in high school. I would put a blank cassette into my “boombox”; wait for a favorite song to play on the radio; and then record the song on tape. The result would be [...]
Prof. James Gibson, University of Richmond School of Law September 24, 2013 As I mentioned in my last essay, my colleague Chris Cotropia and I have recently completed a data collection project in which we examined pleadings from approximately 1,000 copyright cases filed in federal court over a four-year period. We are still evaluating the [...]
Prof. Robert P. Merges, University of California at Berkeley School of Law September 18, 2013 Two news items caught my eye in recent days, and I have been thinking about how they connect. Ray Dolby, the great sound engineer and entrepreneur, died.1 And I saw the latest in a string of ominous-sounding reports on the [...]
Prof. Randal C. Picker, University of Chicago Law School September 11, 2013 This is a big and lively topic. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a recent interesting decision on the interface of copyright and legal pleadings (Unclaimed Property Recovery Service, Inc. v. Kaplan), and there is a new lawsuit over [...]
FOR RELEASE: September 4, 2013 Contact: Richard T. Kaplar The Media Institute 703-243-5700 Arlington, Va., Sept. 4 – The heads of two prominent entertainment industry organizations have joined the Free Speech Week Advisory Council, it was announced today by The Media Institute. John Fithian, president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners [...]
Prof. Rodney A. Smolla August 26, 2013 In Hart v. Electronic Arts, Inc.,1 a former Rutgers University football quarterback, Ryan Hart, brought suit against Electronic Arts, Inc., popularly known as EA Sports, for violating his right of publicity under New Jersey law. In analyzing Ryan’s common-law right of publicity claim, the U.S. Court of Appeals [...]
Prof. James Gibson, University of Richmond School of Law August 20, 2013 What role does Big Media play in the courtroom? Major media companies are often portrayed as aggressive drivers of expansive copyright, dominating every aspect of the legal landscape. When it comes to litigation, however, the truth is more nuanced. My colleague Chris Cotropia [...]