IM 350 Fall, 2015 Day 1 Intellectual Property Law and New Media Ed Lamoureux, Ph. D. Steve Baron, B.A., J.D. Mandell Menkes, LLC © Ed Lamoureux/Steve Baron, 2015

First things First Meet Professor Baron Introduce yourself: Something about you that is NOT your major or minor. Quiz 1 Review syllabus Draw your attention to a few examples, then Introduce basic course perspectives

Quiz 1 In how many ways is the intellectual property protecting this Caterpillar boot product indicated in this illustration? A.4 or 5 B.6 C.7 or 8 D.9 or more

Modified with apologies to our buddies down the hill

In how many ways is the intellectual property protecting this Caterpillar boot product indicated in this illustration? A.4 or 5 B.6 C.7 or 8 D.9 or more

Here is our new product. How are we protecting this? (can you find nine protections?) Modified with apologies to our buddies down the hill

Copyright examples U.S. court finds file-hosting service Hotfile infringed copyright, says MPAA, August 29, 2013U.S. court finds file-hosting service Hotfile infringed copyright, says MPAA, August 29, 2013 Music publisher uses DMCA to take down Romney ad of Obama crooningMusic publisher uses DMCA to take down Romney ad of Obama crooning The copyright on the “Happy Birthday” song may finally be coming to an endThe copyright on the “Happy Birthday” song may finally be coming to an end Videogame App Developer Breaks the Rules on Copyright InfringementVideogame App Developer Breaks the Rules on Copyright Infringement

Patent examples Judge bars sales of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in USJudge bars sales of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in US Apple Design Patent Rejected in Reexamination by USPTApple Design Patent Rejected in Reexamination by USPT Judge says RIM owes $147 million in patent infringement damagesJudge says RIM owes $147 million in patent infringement damages

A trademark example It’s real difficult for companies to protect their trademarks in the new media era. For example, as hard as Disney works this area (hard) there’s still the fan site: –DisneyHeaven.comDisneyHeaven.com Among others. Here we have trademark & copyright infringement

Domain names, search terms, and meta-tags are also trademark issues Trademark Ruling Over Amazon’s Internal Search Results –MTM v. Amazon Fourth Circuit's Rosetta Stone v. Google Opinion Pushes Back Resolution of Keyword Advertising Legality Another Years Although, in many ways, arguments about trademarks in search are “over” (and Goggle’s model wins), there are still cases filed and decisions that question the status quo.

We’ll also examine Trade Secrets (but if we tell you about that today we’d have to kill you); “Content Torts” including defamation, privacy (related to personality), and rights of publicity; The complexities of International IP issues; IP law in games and virtual environments.

The Principle Course Goals: Investigate the relationships among and between: –Concretized ideas/creativity/innovation –Property (ownership) –Law –The Commons The system is supposed to encourage creativity/ideas/innovation by using the legal protections of property to provide rewards that bring culturally enriching outcomes/products into citizens’ lives.

The Primary Assumptions: Nothing has changed Everything has changed

Nothing has Changed Creative artists ROCK Artists often transfer their property rights and protections to others. US intellectual property law has been in place for over two hundred years, is still in force, and is evolving daily. America is tied to capital & property; a lot of it is IP

Everything has Changed Digital technologies have driven the means of production and distribution within reach of “every-person.” –Digital technologies are recombinant by their nature, thereby challenging in-place notions of “creativity.” “The Law” has been/is developed by lawyers, mostly working for Big Content. That law still applies to every-person, even in mundane circumstances.

–It’s difficult for “every-person” to understand/deal with/change. –Corporations employ lawyers; private citizens could do so, but usually can’t afford to. –The law was developed to mediate between corporations. Now it has to stretch to “me and thee”-- and us, to it. Everything has Changed

Some Important Issues for 350 What are the laws? What is the status quo? How does the law punish those who misappropriate? What’s an artist/producer to do? –How does the law protect those who create? Why should students of Interactive Media care about intellectual property law? What’s a gate keeper to do? What’s an average citizen to do? What’s best for society/the public?

Some Important Issues for 350 What are the most interesting developments? –How does the law evolve? –Does it keep pace with with the evolution of technology? If not, what then? –Where are the current/future battlegrounds on the intellectual property front? Does the law promote or inhibit creative endeavors?