Broadcaster's Right Under Copyright Law -- Tarun Jain

The rights of broadcasters are covered under the copyright law. The copyright law considers broadcasting on par with original literary and dramatic works even though it lacks original creativity. The author discusses the provisions of the Indian, US and UK laws relating to broadcasting rights. He also refers to some of the important court decisions to explain cable TV rights, Doordarshan and Satellite broadcasting rights. While referring to the regional instruments, the author refers to cartagene decisions to explain the retransmission rights of the broadcasters. The author opines that the Indian law is advantageous to the broadcasters than the US law. He also refers to the everlasting debate on broadcasting propounded by the broadcasting community on the one side and the advocates of free communication on the other side.

© 2008 Tarun Jain. All Rights Reserved.

Trademark Externalities -- David W Barnes

This paper investigates two particularly intriguing aspects of evolving theories of intellectual property. The first is how well new theories mesh with traditional theories. The second is how well theories developed for copyright and patent law, and the creativity domain of IP fit with the trademark law and the fraud and competition domain. This paper demonstrates that the three approaches to determining the optimal scope of copyright and patent protection involve a balancing of interests equally applicable to trademark issues. In trademark law, those interest are the creation of incentives to engage in trademarking activity and the use of marks to lower search costs and increase competition. Balancing these interests for any type of use of a mark requires weighing the benefits of exclusive rights and the benefits of free access. Courts that enjoin conduct leading to Internet initial interest confusion tend to focus solely on goodwill, the dynamic efficiency side of the balance. The mixed public goods nature of trademarks means that the balance between incentives and access might differ for different uses of trademarks.

© 2007 Yale Journal of Law and Technology. This article was earlier published in the Yale Journal of Law and Technology, Vol. 10, p. 44. Reprinted with permission.

Patent Injunctions and the Problem of Uniformity Cost -- Michael W Carroll

The Supreme Court decision in the eBay case has changed the environment of patent protection. Patents are granted as an incentive to inventors. Whenever there is an infringement of patents, the law comes for protection of the patentee and grants injunctions against the infringers. The existing uniform rule 'one-size-fits-all' is denied by the courts while delivering the decision in the eBay case. It has set a four test standard for granting permanent injunction which includes the patentee should suffer irreparable injury, the monetary damage or inadequate to compensate injury, to balance hardships between the patentee and infringer, a remedy in equity is warranted and the permanent injunction to be granted should not be against the public interest. The author refers to opinions of the hon'ble judges and explains the intricacies of granting permanent injunction. He also opines that the decision will play a significant role in establishing the systems in the US patent arena.

© 2007 Michael W Caroll. This article was first published in the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review, Vol. 13, pp. 421-443. Reprinted with permission.