1. Intellectual Property Law and New MediaIM
Intellectual Property Law and New Media
Ed Lamoureux, Ph. D.
Steve Baron, B.A., J.D.
Mandell Menkes, LLC
© Ed Lamoureux/Steve Baron, 2017

2. First things First Meet Professor Baron Review syllabus
Draw your attention to a few examples, then
Introduce basic course perspectives

3. Quiz 1
Name
Find, mark, and name 9 IP protections
Turn in

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

5. Copyright examples
Videogame App Developer Breaks the Rules on Copyright Infringement
RIAA gets $22M default judgment against “brazen and egregious” MP3 website

6. Patent examples
Apple must pay $506M for infringing university’s patent

7. A trademark example
Jury Awards $54M for Trademark & Trade Dress Infringement

8. Domain names, search terms, and meta-tags are also trademark issues
Fourth Circuit's Rosetta Stone v. Google Opinion Pushes Back Resolution of Keyword Advertising Legality Another 5-10 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.
Court Declines to Review LRO to [.delmonte], Saying gTLDs
Aren’t ‘Domain Names’ for Cybersquatting Purposes

9. 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 virtual environments.

10. 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.

11. The Primary Assumptions:
Nothing has changed
Everything has changed

12. Nothing has Changed
There are, always have been, always will be, creative artists.
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.

13. Everything has Changed
Digital technologies have driven the means of production and distribution within reach of “every-person.”
“The Law” has been (and continues to be) developed by the professional legal community, working for the professional production community. However, that same law must now “apply” to every-person, in mundane circumstances.
It’s difficult for “every-person” to understand/deal with (including difficulties in changing the laws).
Corporations employ lawyers; private citizens could do so, but probably 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.
Digital technologies are recombinant by their nature, thereby challenging in-place notions of “creativity.”

14. Some Important Issues for 450
What are the laws? What is the status quo under which the ground shifts?
What’s an artist/producer to do? What’s a gate keeper to do? What’s an average citizen to do?
What are the most interesting developments?
How does the law evolve and can it keep pace with with the evolution of technology?
Where are the current/future battlegrounds on the intellectual property front?
What’s best for society/the public?
Does the law promote or inhibit creative endeavors?
How does the law protect those who create?
Why should students of Interactive Media care about intellectual property law?
How does the law punish those who misappropriate?