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Functionality Rulings Are Nothing To Cheer About
What do cheerleading uniforms and laminated faux-maple flooring have in common? And what does either one have to do with copyright law? Read on: Both have recently been the subject of dubious rulings about the copyrightability of useful articles that could, if not reversed, further muddy the already murky doctrinal waters the courts have created around this issue. This article discusses Varsity Brands, Inc. v. Star Athletica, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26279 (W.D.Tenn. 2014), and Home Legend v. Mannington Mills, 2014 WL 3687334 (N.D.Ga. 2014), and will suggest that they misconstrued what the Copyright Act means when it refers to the “utilitarian aspects” of a useful article. Under settled copyright principles, both the cheerleader uniforms in Varsity Brands and the laminated flooring in Home Legend certainly qualify as useful articles, but in analyzing the copyrightability of their decorative elements, these decisions fail to follow basic principles enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court in the seminal case of Mazer v. Stein, 347 U.S. 201 (1954).
From 'Mazer' to Copyright Act
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.