US

Oracle Fails to Predict Copyright Case Outcome Against Google

The copyright and patent dispute between Oracle and Google continues, however a partial verdict on the copyright side of the debate has been handed down.

Sampling Questions Still Unsettled After Jay-Z/Kanye West Sampling Settlement

Jay-Z and Kanye West have decided to settle a sampling lawsuit brought forth by soul musician, Syl Johnson.  The pair was accused of illegally sampling one of Johnson’s songs on a track entitled, “The Joy,” on their joint album, Watch the Throne.  Johnson has had a history of pursuing rappers for sampling, including a $29 […]

Patenting Health: You Cannot Own the Laws of Nature

On March 20, 2012, the United States Supreme Court decided Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., 132 S. Ct. 1289 (U.S. 2012). The case was unanimous and emphatically reaffirmed that United States patent law does not allow ownership of “laws of nature.” The context was a pair of patents owned by Prometheus which claimed […]

Patents for the Public Good

In September 2012, United States patent reform legislation goes into effect. (The “America Invents Act.” or AIA, Pub.L. No. 112–29; House Report No. 112–98 ,112TH Cong., 1ST Sess. 2011. Referenced as “Report.”) The Report states that the AIA was the first “comprehensive patent law reform in nearly 60 years.” The legislative process took six years […]

TPP: The Shape of the New International IP Regime

It must have been really nice to have worked as an IP expert for the US Trade Representative (USTR) during the 1990s. Almost everything they proposed would become law. The global maximalist agenda had the large international institutions on its side. The golden age of international maximalism saw the creation of the WTO, the TRIPS […]

On Suspending SOPA and Piping PIPA Down

If the past month is any indication at all, 2012 is going to be an eventful year for intellectual property legislation, at least in the US and Canada. The controversy over the twin anti-digital piracy bills— the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA)— has gained much attention, particularly because […]

Appropriation Art: Transformative or Infringing?

Modern concepts of art and creativity pose a challenge for traditional notions of copyright law. Last March, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled on the legality of appropriation art.

“Don’t Hide The Ball” – Best Mode in the US Patent System

  I am pleased to join you from south of the border. My work has been focussed in the United States. Intellectual property laws are very powerful and important today. Yet they are but part of the larger body of law in any country. They are also part of a developing fabric of international commercial […]

This Suit Is Bananas

Representatives of the defunct rock band, The Velvet Underground, have brought an action against the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. concerning rights over the world’s most iconic banana image a full 45 years after it was first released.

Developing: Megaupload Take Down and Attacks by Anonymous

Ben Farrow is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. It was a big day in the copyright enforcement world today as US federal authorities moved to shut down website Megaupload. The crackdown included charges against seven people as well as the seizure of over 50 million dollars in assets.  As the internet’s most […]