Entertainment Law

Prof. Lind teaches Copyright, Trademark, Entertainment Law, Mass Media law, and Museum and Art Law at Southwestern. He is also the author of several CALI lessons on copyright and trademark law. In this podcast, he explains the confusion that arises from the use of the term "song." Prof.

This lesson deals with copyright duration, an arcane, technical and somewhat laborious subject that is not always covered in depth in copyright law or intellectual property law courses.

This lesson examines the scope of one of the exclusive rights belonging to a copyright owner -- the right to create derivative works based on the copyrighted work, under 17 U.S.C. § 106(2).

This lesson introduces the user to the copyright issues that pertain to sound recordings.

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.

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 covers some of the basic formalities of copyright: notice, registration, and deposit. Attention is given to changes wrought by the 1976 Act and the Berne Convention Implementation Act.

This lesson takes a look at the basic aspects of the contractual element of Consideration. In a typical transaction, the consideration (described as a bargained-for-exchange) is what induces the making of the promise by the offeror. In turn, the promise induces the furnishing of the consideration by the offeree. Consideration is the ordinary means for justifying the enforcement of the promises by the parties. This lesson sets out the basic requisites for establishing consideration.

This lesson integrates agency law and partnership law to develop an understanding of the authority partners possess to bind the partnership. The lesson explores the actual and apparent authority of partners and the possibility of inherent agency power in the partner context.

This lesson reviews the threshold principles of ownership by analyzing the "works made for hire" doctrine codified in the Copyright Act of 1976.

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

This lesson will introduce you to the concept of Gross Income, usually the first concept students encounter in their study of the Federal income tax system. This lesson will also discuss certain exclusions, deductions and other concepts encountered in the calculation of Gross Income. This lesson will be useful to the novice student as it introduces the student to the typical analysis tax lawyers engage in.

This lesson discusses the requirement that a work be "fixed in a tangible medium of expression" as a condition to obtaining copyright protection. Although it assumes a basic familiarity with copyright law and terminology, it is designed to stand alone. It can, therefore, be used either as an introduction to the fixation requirement or as a review of those concepts after a class discussion.

This lesson deals with one aspect of contract formation, acceptance. Acceptance is the manifestation of assent that is made by the offeree in response to an offer. In this lesson, you will learn how a party can accept an offer at common law. The lesson takes up issues such as the manner of acceptance, who can accept, silence as acceptance, rejection and counter-offer. The lesson ends with a short analysis exercise on the subject of acceptance.

This lesson explores how trademark law deals with two specific categories of marks: foreign (non-English) words and people's names. It addresses their ability to function as marks as well as how they should be assessed when determining infringement. The lesson assumes a working familiarity with the "distinctiveness" requirement, the fair use doctrine, and the likelihood of confusion test for infringement.

This lesson explores section 2 of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052, which prohibits certain types of trademarks from being registered on the Principal Register of the PTO, regardless of whether those marks are protectible under state law or under section 43 of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125.

This lesson provides an analysis of the levels of distinctiveness and the requirements for the determination of whether a term chosen as a mark is inherently distinctive, must yet acquire distinctiveness, or is incapable of trademark protection regardless of distinctiveness. The lesson is intended as a review of material that is covered early in a Trademark Law course.

The principal remedies for breach of contract are specific performance and money damages. This lesson explores the circumstances in which a court is likely to award specific performance as a remedy. The lesson can be run either as an introduction to specific performance or as a review after you have completed your study.

Traditional contract law classifies contracts into bilateral and unilateral contracts. Bilateral contracts are those involving promises made by all parties, whereas unilateral contracts involve promises made by only one of the parties. This lesson explores the distinction between bilateral contracts (where both parties make promises) and unilateral ones (where only one party makes a promise) and the effect on the obligations of the parties resulting from the classification. This lesson ends with an analysis exercise on unilateral and bilateral contracts.

Contracts are sometimes referred to as express or implied. Implied contracts are in turn often referred to as contracts implied-in-fact or implied-in-law. The difference between express contracts and implied-in-fact ones results from the conduct of the party in making the promise constituting the assent to the contract. Implied-in-law or quasi-contracts, however, are not really contracts at all, but merely a remedy in restitution. This lesson explores the nature of express contracts, implied-in-fact and implied-in-law contracts.

This lesson introduces the student to agency relationships and explores the following questions: Why are agency relationships formed? Who are the parties to an agency relationship? What elements are required to form an agency relationship? and What are the consequences of forming an agency relationship?

A large percentage of litigation arising out of contracts results from poor drafting. In order to eliminate this litigation, it is imperative that students and legal professionals master good drafting skills. One of the most important aspects of drafting a contract is the operative language--language that affects legal relationships. This lesson is designed to introduce law students to operative language commonly used in drafting contracts, in particular, language of obligation (shall), language of authorization (may) and language of condition precedent (must).

Drafters of contracts, wills and statutes are plagued with the ambiguities inherent in the use of these two connectors. This lesson is designed to identify these ambiguities and then help students to draft with conjunctions which eliminate those ambiguities.

Copyright Law may seem shrouded in mystery: how can you create, transfer, and protect property interests in something intangible? This lesson provides an overview of how it is done, focusing on copyright protection for music. This focus takes advantage of the multimedia capacity of the program; for example, you can listen to two musical works to determine whether one infringes the other, and you can listen to the parody version of "Pretty Woman" that figured in a decision of the United States Supreme Court.