Copyright

This lesson provides an introduction to one of the Copyright Act's section 106 exclusive rights, the distribution right.

This lesson follows the Distribution Right lesson, CPY16. This lesson can best be characterized as the Limitation on the Distribution Right.

This lesson explores a copyright holder's right to control the performance and display of the related work of authorship.

This lesson is an introduction to the principles governing copyright infringement. After completing this lesson, you will be familiar with the standard used to determine liability for copyright infringement. Specifically, the lesson will introduce the elements necessary to support a claim of copyright infringement, which include assessments of copying, access, probative resemblance, striking similarity, improper appropriation, and substantial similarity.

This lesson examines the two types of secondary liability in copyright law -- contributory infringement and vicarious liability. Before attempting this lesson, students should be familiar with the exclusive rights that belong to a copyright owner, and should understand the concept of direct infringement. Note: This lesson was written while the Supreme Court was still considering MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., cert. granted, 125 S. Ct. 686 (2004), the outcome of which may alter the standard for contributory infringement.

Because copyright creates ownership rights in original expression, the private property interests of copyright owners sometimes come into conflict with the public's interest in disseminating knowledge, expressing ideas, or simply enjoying, sharing, and building upon the protected expression. This lesson introduces the basic concept of fair use in copyright law, and offers numerous examples to test the student's ability to apply the balancing test of 17 U.S.C. § 107.

This lesson explores the application of the fair use doctrine, a defense to copyright infringement, in the special context of parody, based on the guidance provided by the Supreme Court in Campbell v. Acuff Rose Music, 510 U.S. 569 (1994). The lesson builds on the foundation established in CALI Lesson CPY08, Fundamentals of Fair Use, using a series of hypotheticals and a final essay.

This lesson will introduce you to the GNU/Linux operating system and its interaction with Copyright Law.

You can complete this lesson without any exposure to the law of copyrights, but the other CALI lessons on copyright will explore basic copyright concepts.  This lesson will be helpful to students studying concepts of ownership in the copyright context. After this lesson and the model answers to the essay questions, you will understand the interaction between current copyright and licensing law and the open source movement's freedom.

This lesson introduces the student to the doctrine and processes involved in interpreting state and federal statutes. Statutes are a critical part of every substantive area of the law, so this is important background for every student, legal professional, lawyer and judge.