Monthly Archives: September, 2024
Charles Graves, ‘Intentionality in Trade Secret Law’
ABSTRACT Trade secret law places more scrutiny on a party’s intent – what it was thinking, what it considered, or what it should have considered – than other categories of intellectual property law. At inflection points across a range of possible disputes, the law inquires into the mindset of one party or the other. Embedded […]
Preminger and Kugl, ‘The Right of Publicity can save actors from Deepfake Armageddon’
ABSTRACT The entertainment industry is being rocked by the potential of deepfakes. A deepfake of a performer can appear to be the performer in a way that no CGI or makeup-enhanced stunt double possibly could, potentially serving as direct competition for them or deceiving audiences. It is now possible to have dead actors star in […]
‘Deserted wives, dastardly husbands, dodgy metaphors’
At this time of year, the thoughts of a historically-minded tutor of Land Law turn to the nature of equity. Yes, it is time to inflict upon a new cohort of second year students the distinction between legal and equitable rules, to skate over the development and demise of conciliar jurisdictions and get them to […]
Marco Cappelletti, ‘Justifying Harm-Based Strict Liability: Reflections on Keating’s Reasonableness and Risk’
ABSTRACT In this article, I discuss Gregory Keating’s Reasonableness and Risk (OUP 2023) and critically assess the arguments he puts forward to justify harm-based strict liability, namely the idea of a conditional wrong of harming-without-repairing and the justification based on proportionality of burdens and benefits. I argue that harming-without-repairing is best seen as a moral […]
Dou and Cao, ‘The Solution to Copyright Abuse in the Era of Artificial Intelligence In China’
ABSTRACT The era of artificial intelligence is like a ‘double-edged sword’ for copyright, which facilitates the authors and the society. If the rights are not restricted, it is easy to produce the copyright abuse crisis. Age of artificial intelligence different areas in copyright abuse problem is obvious, but also have different voice, we need to […]
Vacca and Bartow, ‘Copyright Law: Never Bet Against the House … or Senate’
ABSTRACT Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg heard and decided many copyright law cases during her tenure on the Supreme Court and DC Circuit benches, many of great importance. Surprisingly, given her progressive approach towards social justice issues, she did not predictably side with the underdog in copyright disputes. This chapter undertakes a holistic evaluation of Ginsburg’s […]
Baumann and Rasch, ‘Product Liability and Reasonable Product Use’
ABSTRACT A monopolist offers different variants of a possibly dangerous product to heterogeneous customers who choose among product variants that are distinguished by different safety levels. Customers’ choice of product use codetermines expected harm. We find that even when customers are perfectly informed about product variants’ safety, product liability can increase welfare by limiting the […]
Malone and Skiba, ‘Installment Loans’
ABSTRACT Installment loans have increasingly replaced traditional payday loans in the short-term, small-dollar credit market. Installment loans, often offered by the same lenders who provide payday loans, have larger principal amounts, longer repayment periods, and lower interest rates relative to payday loans. Installment loan advocates and some regulators contend that these differences make the loans […]
Prescott and Starr, ‘Subjective Beliefs about Contract Enforceability’
ABSTRACT This article assesses the content, role, and adaptability of subjective beliefs about contract enforceability in the context of postemployment covenants not to compete (noncompetes). We demonstrate that employees tend to believe that even clearly unenforceable noncompetes are enforceable, including their own. We provide evidence for both supply- and demand-side stories that explain employees’ persistently […]
‘The Distinction Between a Principal’s Liability for Torts of an Independent Contractor with Respect to Inherently Dangerous Activities and Ultra-Hazardous Activities: An Explainer’
I gave this to my class today and thought it might be of interest to some readers. The principal can be held liable where the contractor’s performance involves an inherently dangerous activity. In the Majestic case, for example, the Parking Authority of the City of Paterson hired Toti Contracting to demolish a building adjacent to […]