This page collects and organizes all of the resources used in the separate modules of the course. If you know of a relevant case, article, or link that is not included in this list, please let us know.

GENERAL INFORMATION ON AMERICAN LAW

The two best sites on the Internet for general questions about American legal doctrine are FindLaw and theLegal Information Institute run Cornell Law School.

GENERAL INFORMATION ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

Property and Contract on the Internet

The most comprehensive index to materials pertaining to intellectual property available on the Internet is The Franklin Pierce Intellectual Property Information Mall page.

For an opinionated, brief review of the history of patent, copyright, and trademark doctrine, see William Fisher, "The Growth of Intellectual Property: A History of the Ownership of Ideas in the United States" (1998). (It's a work in progress; the author would welcome comments -- through the threaded conference.)

Good (though not wholly unbiased) information concerning the Internet and the laws that affect it can be found at the site for the President's Information Infrastructure Task Force.

ssrn.com: Social science research network, material and discussions on cyberspace law.

Esther Dyson's homepage, discussing some subjects related to this course.

Electronic Freedom Foundation: Foundation that works to protect privacy and free speech online

World Wide Web Consortium Group exploring the development of the web, considering many issues including legal ones. Much to browse. Intellectual Property section and Law of Linking section are particularly relevant to this course.

SUMMARIES OF PERTINENT LEGAL DOCTRINES

ContractBasics (lessons 66 through 70 of the Cyberspace Law Institute's Cyberspacefor Non-Lawyers)

Copyright Basics (links to primers and other basic information on U.S. copyright law)

Selections from the Copyright Act

Misappropriation and Unfair Competition

Doctrines Relating to Respect and Integrity

Trademark Basics (basic information on U.S. trademark law)

Doctrines Relating to Joint Creation

CASES (in chronological order)

Cerutti1881 v. Cerutti, Inc., No. 95 CIV 7782, 1998 WL 3350 (S.D.N.Y Jan. 5, 1998)
Ruling against domain name owner, based on likelihood of confusion.

Ahn v. Midway, 965 F.Supp.3d 1134 (N.D. Ill. 1997) Joint Authorship case: Martial Arts expert and dancer were held to have created independently copyrightable coreography for the video game "Mortal Kombat" but not to have joint copyrights in the game. Joint Authorship issue was moot because the artists had signed "work for hire" contracts.

Cybersell, Inc. v. Cybersell, Inc., 130 F.3d 414 (9th Cir. 1997)
A good discussion and review of personal jurisdiction in domain name suits.

Hill v. Gateway 2000, Inc., 105 F.3d 1147 (7th Cir. 1997)
Shrinkwrap license case involving sale of computer and the enforceability of an arbitration clause.

Juno Online Serv. v. Juno Lighting, Inc., 979 F. Supp. 684 (N.D. Ill. 1997)
Addressing the defense of trademark misuse in a domain name dispute; finding no trademark infringement for merely "warehousing" domain name.

Teletech Customer Care Mgmt., Inc. v. Tele-Tech Co., Inc., 977 F. Supp. 1407 (C.D.Cal. 1997)
Ruling in favor of trademark owner in domain name dispute, based on trademark dilution.

CDSolutions, Inc. v. Tooker, 965 F. Supp. 17 (N.D. Tex. 1997)
Finding no personal jurisdiction in a domain name dispute.

Zippo Mfr. Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc., 952 F. Supp. 1119 (W.D. Pa. 1997)
Finding personal jurisdiction in a domain name dispute.

Cardservice, Int'l v. McGee, 950 F. Supp. 737 (E.D. Va. 1997)
Ruling against domain name holder based on likelihood of confusion.

Planned Parenthood Fed. of Am. v. Bucci, 42 U.S.P.Q.2d 1430 (S.D.N.Y. 1997)
Ruling in favor of trademark owner in domain name dispute, rejecting a First Amendment defense.

InterstellarStarship Serv. Ltd. v. Epix, Inc., Civil No. 97-107-FR, 1997 WL 736486 (D. Or. Nov. 20, 1997)
A declaratory judgment action (in which the parties requested that the court resolve a domain name dispute). The court finds no likelihood of confusion and the domain name owner prevails.

Playboy Enterprises Inc. v. Calvin Designer Label [DC Ncalif, No. C 97-3204;9/8/97]
Injunction order issued.

Lockheed Martin Corp. v. Network Solutions, Inc., Case No. CV 96-7438 DDP (Anx),1997 WL 381967 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 19, 1997)
Dismissing an action for contributory trademark infringement brought against NSI in domain name dispute.

ProCD v. Zeidenberg, 86 F.3d 1447 (7th Cir. 1996)
A prominent recent case involving shrinkwraps in the context of a database taken from a CD and posted on the web.

Intermatic v. Toeppen, 947 F. Supp. 1227 (N.D. Ill. 1996)
Ruling against a domain name "squatter," based on a finding of trademark dilution.

Panavision, Int'l v. Toeppen, 945 F. Supp. 1296 (C.D. Cal. 1996)
Ruling against a domain name "squatter," based on a finding of trademark dilution.

InsetSys., Inc. v. Instruction Set, Inc., 937 F. Supp. 161 (D. Conn. 1996)
Finding personal jurisdiction in a domain name suit.

Toys'R'Us v. Akkaoui, 40 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1836 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 1996)
Ruling that "adultsrus.com" dilutes trademark in Toys'R'Us.

Actmedia v. Active Media Int'l, No. 96C3448, 1996 WL 466527 (N.D. Ill. July 17, 1996)
Ruling against domain name owner based on likelihood of confusion.

Giacolone v. Network Solutions Inc., No. C-96 20434 RPA/PVT, 1996 WL 887734 (N.D.Cal. June 14, 1996)
Enjoining trademark owner from using NSI's policy to suspend computer consultant's domain name registration.

CompExam'r Agency v. Juris, Inc., no. 96-0213-WMB (Ctx), 1996 WL 376600 (C.D.Cal. May 22, 1996)
Ruling against domain name owner, based on likelihoodof confusion.

Napoli v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., 874 F.Supp. 206 (N.D. Ill. 1995) Joint Authorship case: Court held that rights in the design of a graphic user interface could create joint authorship in the work as a whole, together with the rights in the computer code itself. (vacated on unspecified grounds, 926 F.Supp.780 (N.D. Ill. 1996).

Sun Microsystems v. Astro-Med, 39 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1144 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 29, 1996)
Holding that use of "sunriver" to sell computer products infringes on plaintiff's "sun" mark in a domain name dispute.

Hasbro, Inc. v. Internet Enternainment Group, Ltd., No. C96-130WD, 1996 WL 84853 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 9, 1996)
Issuing an injunction against using candyland.com, a sexually explicit web site, based on trademark dilution.

Carter v. Helmsley-Spear, 71 F.3d 77 (2d Cir. 1995)
The only extant decision that applies the Visual Artists' Rights Act.

Campbell, aka Skywalker, et. al. v. Acuff Rose Music, 114 S.Ct. 1164 (1994)
Copyright fair use, regarding 2 Live Crew's parody of the song "Oh, Pretty Woman."

Erickson v. Trinity Theatre, 13 F.3d 1061 (7th Cir. 1994) Joint Authorship case. Holding: (1) to create joint work, each author must intend respective contributions to be contribution to unitary whole and (2) collaborators are not joint authors unless they intended to be joint authors when work was created and contributions to works are independently copyrightable.

Deere & Co. v. MTD, 41 F.3d 39 (2d Cir. 1994)
Digital alteration of a trademark, in the context of comparative advertising.

Anheuser Busch v. L&L Wings Inc. 962F.2d 316 (4th Cir. 1994)
Myrtle Beach T-shirt case, re: trademark fair use.

Polo Ralph Lauren v. Chinatown Gift Shop,855 F.Supp. 648 (S.D.N.Y. 1994)
Internet service providers may be held liable for the trademark infringements of their users.

New Kids on the Block v. News AmericaPublishing, 971 F.2d 302 (9th Cir. 1992)
Nominal use of a trademark, regarding a newspaper poll about the New Kids on the Block.

Childress v. Taylor, 945 F.2d 500 (2d Cir.1991) Actor asked playwrite to help create work based on research and ideas of actor. Actor revised play with another playwrite; original playwrite sued, claiming that she was joint author and therefore shared rights to play. Court found no joint authorship. This case stands for the propositions that, in order for a work to be "joint," (1) the contributions of each joint author must be independently copyrightable and (2) the authors must intend to create a joint work.

Step-SaverData Sys., Inc. v. Wyse Tech., 939 F.2d 91 (3d Cir. 1991)
Shrinkwrap case involving warranty for computer equipment sold over the phone.

Ashton-Tate v. Ross, 916 F.2d 516 (9th Cir. 1990). Joint authorship case: One software developer (claimant) sued another for unilaterally marketing spreadsheet program on which both had worked. Court found no joint authorship because the contribution of the claimant (a list of user commands) was not independently copyrightable and therefore not sufficiently significant.

Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid, 490 U.S. 730 (1989)
Work for hire doctrine.

VaultCorp. v. Quaid Software, Ltd., 847 F.2d 255 (5th Cir. 1988)
Interesting shrinkwrap case on reverse engineering of software.

Sony Corp v. Universal Studios, 464U.S. 417 (1984)
Copyright fair use and contributory infringement issues, regarding the use of home video recording systems.

Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Co., 538 F.2d 14 (2d Cir. 1976)
Alternative sources of moral rights.

COMMENTARY (in alphabetical order, using last names of principal authors)

Guy Alvarez, "A Beginners Guide to Search Engines and Directories"
Includes links to examples of each.

American Law Institute, Draft of Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Article 2B
A much-discussed proposal to adapt the Uniform Commercial Code to account for shrinkwrap licenses.

Dan L. Burk, Trademarks Along the Infobahn: A First Look at the Emerging Law of Cybermarks," 1 RichJ. L. & Tech. 1 (1995)
A general summary of domain name disputes.

Margaret Chon, New Wine Bursting from Old Bottles: Collaborative Internet Art, Joint Works, and Entrepreneurship, 75 Or. L. Rev 257 (1996). Explores whether the current copyright system is sufficient to deal with the internet, especially the jointly-created artworks that are created on the internet.

Coalition for Networked Information, Technological Strategies for Protecting Intellectual Property in the Networked Multimedia Environment
Numerous working papers on copy protection.

Julie Cohen, Some Reflections on Copyright Management Systems and Laws Designed to Protect Them, 12 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 161 (1997)
Reflections on the implications of copyright management systems.

Mark Cox, Superdistribution, Hotwired
Article arguing in support of metered use.

Thomas F. Cotter, Pragmatism, Economics, and the Droit Moral, 76 N.C.L.Rev. 1 (1997)
Excerpt: overview ofmoral rights.

Electronic Frontier Foundation domain name dispute archive
Numerous articles about the domain name controversy.

Martin J. Elgison and James M. Jordan III, "Trademark Cases Arise from Meta-Tags, Frames. Disputes Involve Search-Engine Indexes, Web Sites Within Web Sites, As Well As Hyperlinking"
Short article with brief summaries of cases and issues. Framing: Washington Post v. TotalNews. Linking: Shetland Times, Ticketmaster v. Microsoft. Metatags: Nat'l Envirotech v. Insituform Technologies, Playboy Enters. v. Calvin Designer Label, Oppedahl & Larson v. Advanced Concepts.

Niva Elkin-Koren, Copyright Policy and the Limits of Freedom of Contract, 12 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 111 (1997)

Colleen Creamer Fielkow, Clashing Rights under United States Copyright Law: Harmonizing an Employer's Economic Right with the Artist-Employee's Moral Rights in a Work Made For Hire, 7DePaul-LCA J. Art & Ent. L. 218 (Spring 1997).
Moral rights in works for hire.

John Fontana, "Trademark Trickery: In scam, search engines duped into diverting queries to competitive Web sites."
Opinionated article discussing Insituform and Playboy cases.

Alexander Gigante, "Domain-ia": The Growing Tension between the DNS and Trademark law.
Discussing incompatibility between the domain name system and trademark law.

Trotter Hardy, Contracts, Copyright and Preemption in a Digital World, 1 Rich. J.L. & Tech. 2 (1995)

Anne Hiaring, Multimedia Licensing, 490 PLI/Pat. 481 (September, 1997). Hypothetical case regarding the creation of a CD-Rom; Overview of Copyright, Trademark, Right of Publicity, and Contractual Ownership issues rasied by the creation of a multimedia product by many people.

Matt Jackson, "Linking Copyright to Homepages."
Law review article discussing in detail copyright issues and linking as well as related doctrinal considerations. Provides background on constitutional basis and economic rationale for copyright law. Primer included on how the Internet works.

Tim Jackson, "The Case of the Invisible Ink."
Alternative view of Oppedahl & Larson case.

Meeka Jun, "MetaTags: The Case of the Invisible Infringer."
Short article discussing Playboy case and mentioning briefly Insituform and Oppedahl & Larson.

Harvard Kennedy School of Government conference on Internet governance, with papers re: domain name problem.
Various articles on domain name governance.

Flore Krigsman, Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act as a Defender of Artists' "Moral Rights," 73 Trade-MarkRep. 251 (May-June 1983)
Alternative sources of moral rights protection.

Arlen W. Langvardt, Protected Marks and Protected Speech: Establishing the First Amendment Boundaries in Trademark Parody Cases, 36 Vill L.Rev. 1 (February, 1991)

Laura G. Lape, A Narrow View of Creative Cooperation: The Current State of Joint Work Doctrine, 61 Alb. L. Rev. 43 (1997). Comprehensive discussion of current legal treatment of joint works, especially works created through internet transmission and contribution.

Wendy R. Leibowitz, "Firm Sues for Invisible Use of Its Trademark on 'Net.' Partner Protests Use of His Law Firm's Name in 'Meta-Tags,' or Web Site Codes."
Short piece discussing Oppedahl & Larson and critical trademark distinction in metatag cases.

David Loundy, A Primer on Trademark Law and Internet Addresses, 15 John Marshall J. of Computer and Info. Law 465 (1997)
A primer on trademark law issues in domain name context.

David J. Loundy, "Hidden Code Sparks High-Profile Lawsuit."
Detailed synopsis of Oppedahl & Larson case.

Mary M. Luria, "Controlling Web Advertising: Spamming, Linking, Framing, and Privacy."
More in-depth article covering many topics related to advertising on the Web. Gives examples, explanations, and discusses legal doctrine.

David Maher, Trademarks on the Internet: Who's in Charge?
A discussion of trademarks and domain names.

Robert Merges, The End of Friction? Property Rights and Contract in the Newtonian World of On-line Commerce, 12 Berkeley Tech. L.J. (1997)

Don Mitchell, et al., In Whose Domain: Name Service in Adolescence
A discussion of domain name proposals.

John M. Mrsich, Meeka Jun, "Terms You Need to Know: Search Engines."
Description of how search engines work; terms used; and distinction among search engines, search directories, and search managers.

Milton Mueller, Internet Domain Names: Privatization, Competition, and Freedom of Expression
A discussion of the domain name problem.

Ira S. Nathanson, Comment, Showdown at the Domain Name Corral: Property Rights and Personal Jurisdiction over Squatters, Poachers and other Parasites, 58 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 911 (1997)
A good summary of case law and major issues in domain name context.

Carl Oppedahl, Analysis and Suggestions Regarding NSI Domain Name Trademark Dispute Policy
An excellent summary of the applicable law, good discussion of NSI's policy, and a good collection of sources and links.

Maureen A. O'Rourke, Copyright Preemption After the ProCD Case: A Market-Based Approach, 12 Berkeley Tech. L.J. (1997)

Sandip. H. Patel, Graduate Students' Ownership and Attribution Rights in Intellectual Property, 71 Ind. L.J. 481 (Spring, 1996). Deals primarily with student intellectual ownership of theories and inventions developed while in school, comparing these ownership rights wit those of professors. Explores patent and copyright implications of student research, including work-for-hire and joint authorship theories.

Lisa Sanger, Caching on the Internet, 1996 Definitions and discussion of caching issues. Eric Schlacter, Domain Name Legal Bibliography
A good collection of links on domain name issues.

Eric Schlacter, The Intellectual Property Renaissance in Cyberspace: Why Copyright Law Could Be Unimportant on the Internet, 12 Berkeley Tech. L.J. (1997)
A discussion of technological protection measures.

Benjamin R. Seecof, Scanning into the Future of Copyrightable Images: Computer-Based Image Processing Poses A Present Threat, 5 High Tech L.J.371 (1990).
On distortion of images and its impact on copyright rules.

Robert Shaw, Internet Domain Names: Whose Domain Is This?, Kennedy School Presentation
An interesting discussion of the lack of formal internet governance.

Mark Stefik, Shifting the Possible: How Trusted Systems and Digital Property Rights Challenge us to Rethink Digital Publishing, 12 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 137 (1997)
A summary of various trusted systems and their likely impact.

Mark Stefik, Trusted Systems, Scientific American
Describing different types of technological protection mechanisms.

William A. Tanenbaum, Intellectual Property Due Diligence for Online Services, Internet Web Site Development and International Conflict of Laws Analysis, PLI Order No. G4-3961 (September, 1996) Article explicating some of the special considerations that arise in the process of internet site development.

Dan Tobias's site on domain names, with sources
Links to resources concerning domain name disputes.

U.S. Dept. of Commerce draft proposal for internet domain name governance
Includes a request for comments and summaries of comments submitted.

U.S. Patent Office policy on registering domain names as trade/service marks.

Raphael Winick, IntellectualProperty, Defamation and the Digital Alteration of Visual Images, 21Colum.-VLA J.L. & Arts 143 (Winter 1997)
On distortion of images.

Andrew J. Wu, Dealing with Copyright Aspects of Computer-Aided Authorship, 13 NO. 9 Computer L. Strategist 1 (January, 1997). Brief discussion of ownership in software-aided creations such as websites that use "canned" images.

Miscellaneous (unspecified author)

For new items, check out the "Newsletter" in the Threaded Discussions.

Student is Joint Author, Not Liable for Infringement Suit by Professor, 6 NO. 6 Mealey's Litig. Rep.: Intell. Prop. 5 (December 15, 1997). Graduate student and professor conducted a study and the student published a paper based on the results. Lawsuit ensued.

"Scottish Court Orders Online Newspaper to Remove Links to Competitors Website."
Brief piece discussing settlement of Shetland Times v. Shetland News case.

"Shetland Islands Linking Lawsuit Settled."
Discussing settlement of case.

"Microsofts Link to Ticketmaster Site Spurs Trademark Lawsuit."
Short piece discussing origins of Ticketmaster v. Microsoft case and legal issues involved.

"AltaVista Cannot Use Its Name on Products or Services, MA Judge Says."
Discusses a linking case involving the search engine AltaVista and AltaVista Technology, a software development company unrelated to the search engine.

"Computing and the Net: Shetland showdown Duncan Campbell on a good day in court for the Web."
Editorial criticizing Shetland News.

"Floating points: Feedback: Tale of two halves." Jonathan Wills.
Response by Shetland News' operator to previous editorial.

"Calif. Judge Orders Site Operators to Cease Using Playboy Name, Marks."
Very brief piece reporting resolution of Playboy case.

"Hidden Use of Trademarks On Web Site May Infringe."
Discussing Playboy injunction.

H.R. 2281 (WIPO Copyright Treaties Implementation Act)
Pending legislation containing provisions restricting the ability to circumvent copy protection technology.

HR 3048 (Digital Era Enhancement Act)
Pending legislation containing provisions restricting the ability to circumvent copy protection technology.

S. 1121 (WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaty Implementation Act of 1997)
Pending legislation containing provisions restricting the ability to circumvent copy protection technology.

Digital Future Coalition
Page generally tracking pending copyright legislation.

CHAT LOGS

Session #1: Monday, March 30, 1998

Session #2: Tuesday, March 31, 1998

Session #3: Wednesday, April 1, 1998

Session #4: Thursday, April 2, 1998

Session #5: Saturday, April 4, 1998

Session #6: Sunday, April 5, 1998

Session #7: Monday, April 6, 1998

Session #8: Tuesday, April 7, 1998

Session #9: Wednesday, April 8, 1998

Session #10: Thursday, April 9, 1998

Session #11: Friday, April 10, 1998

Session #12: Sunday, April 12, 1998

Session #13: Monday, April 13, 1998

Session #15: Thursday, April 16, 1998