Since previously published intellectual property law and business research discusses institutional analyses without interdisciplinary insights by technical experts, and technical references tend to concern engineering solutions without considering the social impact of institutional protection of multimedia digital information, there is a growing demand for a resource that bridges the gap between multimedia intellectual property protection law and technology. Intellectual Property Protection for Multimedia Information Technology provides scholars, management professionals, researchers, and lawyers in the field of multimedia information technology and its institutional practice with thorough coverage of the full range of issues surrounding multimedia intellectual property protection and its proper solutions from institutional, technical, and legal perspectives.

The primary purpose of a patent law system should be to enhance economic efficiency, in particular by providing incentives for making inventions. The conventional wisdom is that patents should therefore be strictly exclusive rights. Moreover, in practice patent owners are almost never forced to give up their right to exclude others and receive only a certain amount of remuneration with, for instance, compulsory licensing. Other economically interesting patent-law objectives, however, include the transfer and dissemination of knowledge. Mechanisms exist by which the patent owner decides if he or she would prefer exclusive or non-exclusive rights, for instance the opportunity to declare the willingness to license and create patent pools. But it is questionable whether these mechanisms are sufficient and efficient enough in view of the existence of patent trolls and other problems. This work challenges the conventional wisdom to a certain extent and makes proposals for improvements.

The United States Supreme Court famously labeled copyright "the engine of free expression" because it provides a vital economic incentive for much of the literature, commentary, music, art, and film that makes up our public discourse. Yet today's copyright law also does the opposite--it is often used to quash news reporting, political commentary, church dissent, historical scholarship, cultural critique, and artistic expression.
In Copyright's Paradox, Neil Weinstock Netanel explores the tensions between copyright law and free speech, revealing how copyright can impose unacceptable burdens on expression. Netanel provides concrete illustrations of how copyright often prevents speakers from effectively conveying their message, tracing this conflict across both traditional and digital media and considering current controversies such as the remix and copying culture rampant on YouTube and MySpace, hip-hop music and digital sampling, and the Google Book Search litigation. The author juxtaposes the dramatic expansion of copyright holders' proprietary control against the individual's newly found ability to digitally cut, paste, edit, remix, and distribute sound recordings, movies, TV programs, graphics, and texts the world over. He tests whether, in light of these developments and others, copyright still serves as a vital engine of free expression and he assesses how copyright does--and does not--burden speech. Taking First Amendment values as his lodestar, Netanel argues that copyright should be limited to how it can best promote robust debate and expressive diversity, and he presents a blueprint for how that can be accomplished.
Copyright and free speech will always stand in sometension. But there are ways in which copyright can continue to serve as an engine of free expression while leaving ample room for speakers to build on copyrighted works to convey their message, express their personal commitments, and create new art. This book shows us how.

This book offers comprehensive, easy to understand guidance for medical device technology innovators on how to work through the United States FDA regulatory review process, while also providing insight on the various intellectual property concerns that many medical device innovators face. In the first portion of this book, readers are introduced to important concepts concerning FDA compliance for medical devices, as well as strategies for successfully navigating the FDA regulatory review process. Specifically, the first portion discusses the expansive range of medical devices and then walks through the most common routes to market: the PMA and 510(k) application processes. In the second portion of this book, readers are introduced to the various types of intellectual property rights that are available for medical device technology inventions and innovations, and can explore ways to overcome unique intellectual property challenges faced by many medical device technology innovators. In the third portion of the book, specific strategies are discussed to navigate the interface between the FDA regulatory process and the process of obtaining intellectual property protection. This book also includes a number of descriptive examples, case studies and scenarios to illustrate the topics discussed, and is intended for use by medical device designers, developers and innovators.

Although the European harmonisation of trademark law started more than two decades ago and is now quite robust, heretofore practitioners have had no easily accessible and comprehensive description and analysis of this regime to rely upon in their work, despite the existence of commentaries of the Directive and Regulation on trademarks. Now, European Trademark Law describes all relevant developments in both legislation and case law, in particular of the Court of Justice, offering not only a succinct introduction to the theory, structure and nature of trademark law, but also insightful suggestions for resolving and answering a host of practical problems. As the authors note, their book provides an 'overview of trademark law rather than an overview of trademark legislation.' The authors view the law from different perspectives; they take both the European perspective and the perspective from harmonised national trademark law, in particular as it is in the Benelux countries. Paying particular attention to the implications of the considerable stream of case law that has followed from partially new doctrines set in place by the harmonization process, the book greatly clarifies the workings and interrelations of such factors as the following: * situations that did not constitute infringement under former trademark law but do constitute infringement today and vice versa; * different types of marks and their particularities; * registration and opposition procedures; * relevant international treaties; * requirements for the mark; * grounds for refusal and invalidity; * scope of and limitations to trademark protection; * use of trademarks in comparative advertising; * referential use of trademarks; * use of trademarks on the internet; * exhaustion of rights, parallel trade; * concepts of well known trademarks and trademarks with a reputation; * procedural aspects of enforcing trademark rights; * how trademark rights are lost. The analysis also covers specific aspects of the trademark right that are related to other legal areas, such as property law, trade name law, the law regarding geographical indications of origin, copyright law, competition law, and product liability. An especially valuable part of the book's presentation follows the 'life' of a trademark from filing the application up to and including its cancellation, revocation or invalidity. Intellectual property lawyers, judges, academics and in-house counsel will greatly appreciate this very useful guide to the current state of trademark law practice in Europe.

The three-step test--by which limitations on exclusive copyrights are confined to certain special cases' which do not conflict with a 'normal exploitation of the work' and do not 'unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the author'--is among the most enduring of standards affecting limitations on intellectual property rights. Its field of application is the delicate balance between exclusive rights and sufficient breathing space for the free flow of ideas and information. However, the emerging information society has thrown numerous unforeseen obstacles in the once-clear path of its implementation. Can the traditional balance between grants and reservations of copyright law be recalibrated along the lines of the three-step test in order to meet current and future needs? Controversies over this crucial question--in Europe, the U.S., Australia, and elsewhere, as well as in two significant WTO panels in 2002--have brought the three-step test into focus, the essential principle governing copyright limitations in the information society. Investigating the development, structure, and function of the three-step test in international copyright law with thoroughness and precision, Copyright, Limitations and the Three-Step Test offers a close and insightful analysis of its continuing utility for the twenty-first century. The book includes: viable restatements of the rationales of copyright protection for the emerging IP environment; new insights into the relationship between copyright protection and copyright limitations; in-depth explanation of the structure and functioning of the three-step test; detailed interpretations of each criterion of the test; discussion of the two WTO panelreports dealing with the test; a proposal for the further improvement of the copyright system and the international rules governing copyright law; detailed information about international conference material concerning the test; and discussion of potential future trends in copyright law. The author provides many examples that demonstrate the test's impact on different types of limitations, such as private use privileges and the U.S. fair use doctrine. He explains the test's role in the European Copyright Directive. The detailed examination and explanation of the three-step test will be of extraordinary value to policymakers, judges, and lawyers in the field of intellectual property law seeking to react adequately to the challenges of the digital environment.

Stefan Larsson's Conceptions in the Code makes a significant contribution to sociolegal analysis, representing a valuable contribution to conceptual metaphor theory. By utilising the case of copyright in a digital context it explains the role that metaphor plays when the law is dealing with technological change, displaying both conceptual path-dependence as well as what is called non-legislative developments in the law. The overall analysis draws from conceptual studies of "property" in intellectual property. By using Karl Renner's account of property, Larsson demonstrates how the property regime of copyright is the projection of an older regime of control onto a new set of digital social relations. Further, through an analysis of the concept of "copy" in copyright as well as the metaphorical battle of defining the BitTorrent site "The Pirate Bay" in the Swedish court case with its founders, Larsson shows the historical and embodied dependence of digital phenomena in law, and thereby how normative aspects of the source concept also stains the target domain. The book also draws from empirical studies on file sharing and historical expressions of the conceptualisation of law, revealing both the cultural bias of both file sharing and law. Also law is thereby shown to be largely depending on metaphors and embodiment to be reified and understood. The contribution is relevant for the conceptual and regulatory struggles of a multitude of contemporary socio-digital phenomena in addition to copyright and file sharing, including big data and the oft-praised "openness" of digital innovation.

Academics and practitioners are currently divided on the issues involved in permitting and regulating the commercial exploitation of publicity. 'Publicity' is the practice of using an individual's name, image and reputation to promote products or to provide media coverage, often in gossip magazines and the tabloid press. This book provides a theoretical and multi-jurisdictional review of the nature of publicity practice and its appropriate legal regulation. The book includes a detailed exploration of the justifications advanced in favour of publicity rights and those that are advanced against. Removing the analysis from any one jurisdiction the book examines current academic and judicial perspectives on publicity rights in a range of jurisdictions, drawing out similarities and differences, and revealing a picture of current thinking and practice which is intellectually incoherent. By then clearly defining the practice of publicity and examining justifications for and against, the author is able to bring the nature and shape of the right of publicity into much sharper focus. The book includes a careful consideration of possible limits to any right of publicity, the potential for assigning publicity rights or transferring them post mortem, and whether defences can be offered. The author concludes by arguing for a publicity right which provides a degree of protection for the individual but which is significantly curtailed to recognise valid competing interests. This is a work which will be of interest to academics and practitioners working in the field of publicity, privacy and intellectual property.

Protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) has become a global issue. The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement outlines the minimum standards for IPR protection for WTO members and offers a global regime for IPR protection. However, the benefits of TRIPS are more questionable in poorer countries where national infrastructure for research and development (R&D) and social protection are inadequate, whereas the cost of innovation is high. Today, after more than a decade of intense debate over global IPR protection, the problems remain acute, although there is also evidence of progress and cooperation. This book examines various views of the role of IPRs as incentives for innovation against the backdrop of development and the transfer of technology between globalised, knowledge-based, high technology economies. The book retraces the origins, content and interpretations of the TRIPS Agreement, including its interpretations by WTO dispute settlement organs. It also analyses sources of controversy over IPRs, examining pharmaceutical industry strategies of emerging countries with different IPR policies. The continuing international debate over IPRs is examined in depth, as are TRIPS rules and the controversy about implementing the 'flexibilities' of the Agreement in the light of national policy objectives. The author concludes that for governments in developing countries, as well as for their business and scientific communities, a great deal depends on domestic policy objectives and their implementation. IPR protection should be supporting domestic policies for innovation and investment. This, in turn requires a re-casting of the debate about TRIPS, to place cooperation in global and efficient R&D at the heart of concerns over IPR protection.

The book examines the protection of property rights in chattels through the law of torts, focusing on the four actions of conversion, detinue, trespass and negligence. Traditionally these actions have been governed by arcane divisions which have led to unnecessary complexity and arbitrariness. The principal argument made in the book is that significant developments in the modern law point towards abolition of these arcane divisions and permit the chattel torts to be understood by reference to a coherent and justifiable structure. It is argued that the only division which should be drawn in the modern chattel torts is between intentional interferences with chattels, where liability is strict, and unintentional interferences with chattels, where liability is fault based. In order to demonstrate this structure it is first argued that the actions of conversion, detinue and trespass amount, in substance, to a single cause of action which imposes strict liability for the intentional interference with another's chattel. It is then argued that the tort of negligence recognises a fault-based cause of action for the unintentional interference with another's chattel. It is further argued that this basic structure, unlike the arcane divisions which have traditionally governed this area of law, can be justified.

Here is one of the first books specifically geared for legal practitioners involved in liability arising out of participation in professional and amateur athletics. In a lively and highly readable manner, Yasser applies tort law principles to a wide variety of sports cases--from such publicized cases as Dale Hackbart v. Boobie Clark, Rudy Tomjanovich v. The Los Angeles Lakers, and Bill Walton v. Dr. Cook to the more obscure such as Virgil v. Time Inc. and Spahn v. Julian Messner Inc. In each he expertly underscores relevant, useful information that can be used in daily practice. The author, a torts professor and sports fan, examines in a sports setting such torts as negligence, products liability, and intentional interference with contractual relations. In each chapter, Professor Yasser prints edited versions of the landmark sports cases, takes an in-depth look at one major legal issue, and provides a broad summary of the law and a bibliography. "Harvard Law RevieW"

Here is one of the first books specifically geared for legal practitioners involved in liability arising out of participation in professional and amateur athletics. In a principles to a wide variety of sports cases and expertly underscores relevant information that can be used in daily practice. In each chapter, he systematically covers a particular situtation, giving a complete perspective of every aspect. Introductory comments outline the germane substantive law and set the stage for the case and materials section. Landmark cases are reviewed and Yasser takes an indepth look at an important case or issue. To round out the chapter, he raises points that are pertinent to the subject matter and provides a bibliography of outstanding legal literature.

Although there is intellectual property protection in China, many companies, wary of China's much-publicized reputation for counterfeiting and piracy, fail to enter the largest developing market in the world because of an excess of caution. By detailing protection procedures that work, this practical handbook aims to open the door to a secure presence in the Chinese marketplace. "Chinese Intellectual Property Law and Practice" covers every step a company's counsel or patent agent needs to take, from registration of rights to invoking the effective enforcement methods now in place under Chinese law, in order to ensure effective protection of copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade names, trade secrets, and licensing arrangements in China. Written by a panel of active Chinese trade authorities - including practicing lawyers, academic specialists, and even a private investigator - the book shows how to: transfer intellectual property when investing in China; license products and services successfully in China; challenge unfair trade activities successfully via the US International Trade Commission and other non-Chinese authorities; use Chinese media and communications to undermine piracy and foster good will; secure strong judicial enforcement against copyright infringement; combat creative theft of IP rights, especially on the Internet; and evaluate the efficacy of a factory raid. Also included are numerous case studies from specific industries (including software, sporting goods, publishing, and luxury goods), a model contract, a bibliography, and a list of web sites.

Traditional copyright law strikes a delicate balance between an author's control of original material and society's interest in the free flow of ideas, information, and commerce. In today's digitally networked environment, this balance has shifted dramatically to one side, as powerful rights holders contractually impose terms and conditions of use far beyond the bounds set by copyright law. This vitally significant book explores this conflict from its gestation through its current manifestations to its future lineaments and potential consequences. Focusing on statutory copyright limitations that enshrine constitutional rights such as freedom of expression and privacy, foster dissemination of knowledge, safeguard competition, and protect authors from market failure, Copyright Limitations and Contracts clearly explains the rationale for these limitations and questions the legality of overriding them by contractual means. The author finds a complex array of factors clouding the emergence of coherent rules in the matter, among them the nature of the contract (e.g. fully negotiated vs. "shrinkwrap"), the respective interests of the parties involved, and the legislated policy of particular regimes. She points out that the United States' new Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA), which is likely to be adopted be many U.S. States and influence similar legislation in many other countries, leaves this crucial issue essentially unresolved. Among the author's many startling insights is that, contrary to the commonly held notion that the Internet is a bastion of free speech, in fact it is now possible (via encryption technology) for the first time in human history to exerciseabsolute control over copyrighted material, even under circumstances of global mass distribution. As we become more and more aware that the intersection of copyright and contract reveals one of the deepest and most far-reaching contradictions of our time, this illuminating analysis will be of extraordinary value to jurists in every area of public and private law.

The effort to win federal copyright protection for dance choreography in the United States was a simultaneously racialized and gendered contest. Copyright and choreography, particularly as tied with whiteness, have a refractory history. This book examines the evolution of choreographic works from being federally non-copyrightable, unless they partook of dramatic or narrative structures, to becoming a category of works potentially copyrightable under the 1976 Copyright Act. Crucial to this evolution is the development of whiteness as status property, both as an aesthetic and cultural force and a legally accepted and protected form of property. The choreographic inheritances of Loie Fuller, George Balanchine, and Martha Graham are particularly important to map because these constitute crucial sites upon which negotiations on how to package bodies of both choreographers and dancers - as racialized, sexualized, nationalized, and classed - are staged, reflective of larger social, political, and cultural tensions.

This book comprises chapters by leading international authors analysing the interface between intellectual property and foreign direct investment, development, and free trade. The authors search for a balance between the conflicting interests that inherently coexist in intellectual property law. The chapters dig deep into the subjects and notions that have become central in international intellectual property legal developments: i) flexibility, public interest and policy-space for implementation; ii) interfaces between the intellectual property regime and other legal regimes; and iii) the development of international intellectual property law and its influence on national legal orders, which includes the implementation of intellectual property undertakings.

This book offers a comprehensive and critical evaluation of the distribution and ownership of digital content within the EU. The analysis builds on the debate surrounding 'digital exhaustion' and is focused around three generations of supply of digital content: hardcopy sales, downloads and online access. For each generation, the supplying act and the ability to further transfer what was supplied is scrutinized in the light of EU copyright and neighbouring rights law. Going beyond a description of case law, this book highlights inconsistencies and frictions caused by the CJEU and addresses the fate for novel business models, hybrid works and neighbouring rights. Finding that copyright is only one part of the puzzle, Simon Geiregat offers broader perspectives to the transferability discussion by involving impeding digital architecture (technical protection measures) and the 'data ownership' debate, and by bringing consumer contract law and property law as well as equal treatment into the analysis. Providing a rigorous overview of the law surrounding digital content, this will be a valuable read for academics and practitioners with an interest in EU copyright and the debates on propertization and transferability in the digital context. It will also be beneficial to music and film organisations and distributors involved in supplying digital content in the European market.

It has often been said that information is power. This is more true in the information age than ever. The book profiles the tools used by criminal law to protect confidential information. It deals with the essence of information, the varieties of confidential information, and the basic models for its protection within the context of the Internet and social networks. Eli Lederman examines the key prohibitions against collecting protected information, and against using, disclosing, and disseminating it without authorization. The investigation cuts across a broad subject matter to discuss and analyze key topics such as trespassing and peeping, the human body as a source of information, computer trespassing, tracking and collecting personal information in the public space, surveillance, privileged communications, espionage and state secrets, trade secrets, personal information held by others, and profiling and sexting. Infocrime will appeal to graduate and undergraduate scholars and academics in the legal arena, in law schools and schools of communication, and to practicing lawyers with an interest in legal theory and a concern for the protection of the personal realm in a world of increasingly invasive technologies.

This volume provides thorough coverage of some troublesome and seldom clarified issues that affect scholars who deal with nonprint media. When is it legitimate in teaching or publishing to "quote" a visual image from television, film or printed graphics? To quote the lines from a musical lyric? Why has the long tradition of fair use for printed material, which sanctions quoting without permission, been so slow in its extension to other media? How can scholars and publishers prudently behave in an area where media corporations are uncooperative or belligerent in dealing with requests to document arguments through the inclusion of copyrighted materials? This book offers a forum where scholars, lawyers, archivists, and federal administrators of copyright law express informed viewpoints about these issues.

Intellectual property scholars often argue that a European Copyright Code is unnecessary, undesirable, and perhaps impossible. It is certainly true that drafting rules for the European copyright law of the future is a sensitive and risky task. However, the intersection between the present and the future, the delicate point where it is felt that one era is fading away and a new dawn is breaking, has arrived for European copyright law; and moreover, the Lisbon Treaty has provided an explicit legal basis for an EU copyright policy. At this moment, all views, interests, concerns, and expectations should be weighed in order to establish the next step forward from this critical stage. Such a wide-ranging evaluation was the objective of an international conference held in Nicosia, Cyprus, in April 2011. This book reprints the papers presented at that conference, touching on such issues as the following: rules of copyright ownership and allocation of rights; codification techniques; copyright exceptions and limitations; copyright as a public interest question; claims of culture and human rights; economic rights of the author; enforcement of copyright; EU harmonization of copyright; interoperability; media as tangible objects; moral rights; the duration of copyright; the notion of the "public"; the role of fundamental rights; the concept of work; employment relationships, commission contracts, and collective works; copyright licensing; and the concept of "fair use". Several authors offer insightful comments on the ways in which the Wittem Group's draft European Copyright Code propounds some of these issues. Recognizing that the existing steps towards harmonized copyright protection in Europe have gone little farther than a patchwork of eight directives and a set of case law interpretation rules, the authors take important steps towards decrypting the gaps and inconsistencies in the existing common legal framework. In their reexamination of the sources and justifications of copyright law and its crucial role in balancing the right to information with requirements of data protection and privacy, they have created in this book an in-depth resource for forward-looking policymakers, academics, and practitioners in the field of copyright law throughout the European Union.

This book gathers international and national reports from across the globe on key questions in the field of antitrust and intellectual property.The first part discusses the allocation of liability for infringement of antitrust laws between corporations and individuals. The book explores the criminal or administrative sanctions available against corporations, companies or group of companies, and individuals, such as employees or directors. A detailed international report explores the major trends and challenges in this field and provides an excellent comparative study of this complex and challenging subject. The second part examines whether intellectual property rights are sufficiently protected to ensure a fair return on investments made by manufacturers and distributors. This question comes at a time where distribution is facing deep and radical changes with the Internet. To what extent this is an opportunity or a threat to the sustainability of distribution systems of differentiated and IP protected goods is the question. This book brings together the current legal responses across a number of European countries and elsewhere in the world, all summarised and elaborated in an international report. The book also includes the resolutions passed by the General Assembly of the International League of Competition Law (LIDC) following a debate on each of these topics, which include proposed solutions and recommendations. The LIDC is a long-standing international association that focuses on the interface between competition law and intellectual property law, including unfair competition issues.