The article describes how the first courts to address the scope of copyright protection for application programs have tended to view application programming as predominantly an exercise in creative expression and accordingly have interpreted the scope of copyright protection in this area quite...

In Rise of the API Copyright Dead? An Updated Epitaph for Copyright Protection of Network and Functional Features of Computer Software, I analyzed and critiqued the Federal Circuit’s 2014 ruling in Oracle v. Google that revives the flawed and long-dormant Whelan framework for analyzing the...

After a decade of bruising legal battles, the courts and software industry norms largely resolved the costly war over the scope of copyright protection for computer software. By the mid 1990s, freedom to develop interoperable devices, systems, and software triumphed over broad copyright...

Growing out of the rap and hip hop genres as well as advances in digital editing tools, music mashups have emerged as a defining genre for post-Napster generations. Yet the uncertain contours of copyright liability as well as prohibitive transaction costs have pushed this genre underground,...

Notice of preexisting rights plays a critical role in resource planning. This article focuses on the history, role, institutions, costs, and efficacy of notice within the domain of expressive creativity. It distinguishes between two sets of copyright notice challenges: tracing of copyright...

This article explores how 3D printing fits within US copyright law. US copyright law provides a well-developed general framework for the protection of creative designs, whether fixed in CAD files or 3D objects. Enforcement of copyright protection in this industry faces some of the same...

The Supreme Court should grant review of the Federal Circuit's decisions in Oracle v. Google for two compelling sets of reasons. First, the Federal Circuit's decisions conflict with this Court's seminal decision in Baker v. Selden, 101 U.S. 99 (1879), misinterpret Congress's codification of this...

This chapter provides a comprehensive survey of the burgeoning literature on the law and economics of intellectual property. It is organized around the two principal objectives of intellectual property law: promoting innovation and aesthetic creativity (focusing on patent, trade secret, and...

Prior to the emergence of peer-to-peer technology, the Copyright Act’s distribution right was largely dormant. Most enforcement actions were premised upon violations of the reproduction right. The relatively few cases invoking the distribution right involved arcane scenarios. During the past...

This article calls attention to the dismal state of copyright's public approval rating. Drawing on the format and style of Ira Glass's “This American Life” radio broadcast, the presentation unfolds in three parts: Act I – How did we get here?; Act II – Why should society care about...