Immoral or Scandalous Marks: An Empirical Analysis
The Lanham Act sets forth which trademarks may be registered at the Patent and Trademark Office. It contains a number of limitations on registrability. Section 2(a) prohibits among other things…
Speaking About Politics, A Fireable Offense? The Legality of Employee Speech Restrictions in the Entertainment Industry
Despite the commonly shared belief that Americans have an undeniable right to freedom of speech, private-sector employees receive no constitutional protection for employer regulations of or reactions to their speech…
The Hybrid Trademark and Free Speech Right Forged From Matal v. Tam
This article provides an analysis of the potential ramifications of the 2017 U.S. Supreme Court case, Matal v. Tam, which has forged a hybrid trademark and free speech right. In…
Encryption and the Press Clause
Almost twenty years ago, a hostile debate over whether government could regulate encryption—later named the Crypto Wars—seized the country. At the center of this debate stirred one simple question: is…
Choking the Channel of Public Information: Re-Examination of an Eighteenth-Century Warning about Copyright and Free Speech
The U.S. Supreme Court in Eldred v. Ashcroft gave First Amendment importance to the topic of copyright history. In measuring whether Congress has altered the “traditional contours” of copyright such…