George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

Artist Roundtable Presented by the Mason Sports & Entertainment Law Association and the Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Clinic

The following post comes from Austin Shaffer, a 2L at Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP.

the word "copyright" typed on a typewriterBy Austin Shaffer

On April 6th, the Mason Sports & Entertainment Law Association, in conjunction with the Arts & Entertainment Advocacy Clinic, hosted its Artist Roundtable event. Read more

Recap of the Supreme Court’s Google v. Oracle Opinion

a gavel lying on a desk in front of booksThe following post comes from Liz Velander, a recent graduate of Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP.

By Liz Velander

The Supreme Court finally reached a determination in the decade-long dispute between two of the biggest technology companies in the world, Google and Oracle. Read more

Ninth Circuit Confirms: Fair Use Is an Affirmative Defense to Copyright Infringement

the word "copyright" written on a typewriterThe Ninth Circuit’s recent decision clarifying transformative fair use in Dr. Seuss v. ComicMix gives much to admire (see my deep dive into the opinion here). The court held that a mash-up of plaintiff Seuss’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Read more

Ninth Circuit Clarifies Transformative Fair Use in Dr. Seuss v. ComicMix

a gavel lying on a desk in front of booksThis past Friday, the Ninth Circuit handed down its opinion in Dr. Seuss v. ComicMix, a closely watched transformative fair use case. The decision marks an important milestone in the development of the fair use doctrine, especially as applied to mash-ups—where two or more preexisting works are blended together to create a new work. Read more

Professor Shyam Balganesh on Understanding Privative Copyright Claims

The following post comes from Liz Velander, a recent graduate of Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP.

the word "copyright" typed on a typewriterBy Liz Velander

Some argue that modern copyright law is decidedly market-oriented, almost entirely justified in utilitarian terms. By promising authors a set of marketable exclusive rights in their works, copyright is believed to incentivize the production of works of authorship. Read more

Google v. Oracle at the Supreme Court: Copyrightability, Fair Use, and Standard of Review

The following post comes from Chris Wolfsen, a recent graduate of Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP.

U.S. Supreme Court buildingBy Chris Wolfsen

Grocery store shelves, QWERTY keyboards, and restaurant menus. These are just three of the analogies that Supreme Court justices used to grapple with the complex issues in the long-awaited Google v. Read more

CPIP’s Sandra Aistars Joins Artomatic Panel on Copyright Protection for Visual Artists

The following post comes from Liz Velander, a recent graduate of Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP.

the word "copyright" written on a typewriterBy Liz Velander

As part of its ongoing series about the copyright licensing process, Artomatic hosted a virtual panel for visual artists last week to discuss how to protect their creative works. Read more

Senate IP Subcommittee Hearing Addresses Intersection of DMCA and Fair Use

The following post comes from Yumi Oda, an LLM Candidate at Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP.

U.S. Capitol buildingBy Yumi Oda

As part of its year-long review of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property tackled yet another contentious issue in our copyright system—fair use. Read more

Copyright Office Questions Legality of Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library

the word "copyright" typed on a typewriterOn March 24, the Internet Archive (Archive) unveiled what it called the “National Emergency Library” (NEL) in order to “address our unprecedented global and immediate need for access to reading and research materials.” The announcement specified that Archive would suspend the waitlist for 1.4 million books in its unlicensed “lending library” until at least June 30, thus allowing an unlimited number of people to download electronic copies of the same book at the same time. Read more