Christina Bohannan: Copyright Infringement and Harmless Speech

Should copyright law be subject to the same harm requirements as other speech-regulating restrictions? In her article, Copyright Infringement and Harmless Speech, Professor Christina Bohannan persuasively argues that without a harm requirement, copyright law unnecessarily suppresses copying that would otherwise enhance democratic governance by increasing access to creative and informative works. To support this argument, Professor Bohannan methodically explains how First Amendment case law can supplant the vagaries of fair use or statutory litigation to protect important free speech values.

Rebecca Tushnet - Worth a Thousand Words: The Images of Copyright Law

Has the textual model of copyright law restricted its ability to properly govern images? In her article Worth a Thousand Words: The Images of Copyright Law, 125 Harv. L. Rev. 683 (2012), Professor Rebecca Tushnet (Georgetown University Law Center) discusses the contradiction and confusion that courts have encountered when assessing whether images are copyrightable and determining if copyrights have been infringed. She proposes that the “substantial similarity” test for determining whether a party has infringed the reproduction right of a copyright be abandoned, a true “reproduction” right that protects against exact (or near-exact) copying be adopted in its place, and an end to analyzing images as if they were text.

Guest Blogger--David Taylor on Patent Misjoinder

Many thanks to Sarah Tran for highlighting my most recent scholarship on the Written Description blog yesterday and permitting me the opportunity to post a short response.

The blog entry was particularly timely. Just this past Friday the Federal Circuit resolved the split of authority among district courts applying Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 20, which governs permissive joinder, in patent infringement cases. See In re EMC Corp., slip op. (Fed. Cir. May 4, 2012) (granting a petition for writ of mandamus). The Federal Circuit ultimately ordered the district court to reconsider the issues of severance and joinder of accused infringers using a standard articulated in the opinion.

David Taylor: Patent Misjoinder

How should district courts interpret the joinder provisions of the America Invents Act? In Patent Misjoinder (forthcoming New York University Law Review), Professor David Taylor provides a comprehensive analysis of 35 U.S.C. § 299 and offers a statutory interpretation that would maximize judicial efficiencies and avoid undue prejudice to accused infringers. To develop his interpretation, Professor Taylor considers the policy concerns of permissive joinder and how these concerns have led to divergent joinder standards.