Kessler v. Duffer: A Conspiracy Theory and the Origin of Stranger Things
The success and mass cultural appeal of Netflix’s Stranger Things is in part due to the way in which it incorporates familiar story tropes and cinematic techniques to create a…
What Does EU’s New Copyright Law Mean for Online Service Providers?
A new copyright directive approved by the European Union on February 13 might fundamentally change the landscape for online service providers (OSPs). While the bill still awaits confirmation from European…
Post-Sale Confusion
Traditionally, the main purposes of trademark law are consequentialist by nature. They are to reduce consumer search costs and to create incentives for producers to invest in product quality. If…
Oracle v. Google and the Brain Teaser of API Copyright Protection
Since the beginning of the digital revolution, copyright law has had to adapt to the advent of new technologies and their impact on the world of creation. Software protection, mainly,…
1970s Musicians v. UMG & Sony: A Second Chance or Works For Hire?
On February 5, 2019, UMG Recordings (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (Sony) were sued by a group of musicians in a class action separately in Southern District of New York…
JIPEL Vol. 8, No. 1 – Fall 2018
Legal journals are sometimes criticized as disconnected from the real world or labeled sounding chambers for academics. Like many of our favorite publications, our fall issue stands in stark contrast…
Is the Copyright Act Inconsistent with the Law of Employee Invention Assignment Contracts?
There is a latent conflict between the law of employee invention assignment contracts and the Copyright Act’s work for hire doctrine. Countless employees sign contracts specifying that, in most cases,…
Analyzing Aalmuhammed v. Lee in the Context of Entertainment Industry Employment
In Aalmuhammed v. Lee, the Ninth Circuit established a test for determining whether an individual contributor to a work may qualify as a joint author. The test identified three main…
“Prime Health” and the Regulation of Hybrid Healthcare
This article examines the possible constructs behind the announcement that Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are jointly building a new healthcare entity for their employees. In this…
Using the Economic Espionage Act to Protect Trade Secrets in Baseball
In 2016, Christopher Correa, a former employee of the St. Louis Cardinals, was sentenced to forty-six months in prison for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act when he accessed…