Policing the Border between Trademarks and Free Speech

Policing the Border between Trademarks and Free Speech
Author: Pratheepan Gulasekaram
Publisher:
Total Pages: 38
Release: 2006
Genre:
ISBN:

Artists and other creators of expressive works often include trademarks and trademarked products as part of their works. They do so for a number of reasons, including lighthearted humor, critical cultural commentary, parody, or even simply to shock. In instances where such use is both unauthorized by and perceived as disparaging to the mark owner or the trademarked product, owners have attempted to sue under trademark law to enjoin the expressive use. This Article argues that, under a proper analysis of trademark law, precedent, and the free expression ideal enshrined in the First Amendment, mark owners should rarely, if ever, prevail in such actions. This Article evaluates the current state of the law, criticizing its inconsistencies and equivocations, and suggests that the correct analytical framework for these disputes must protect the public, creative nature of trademarks and their cultural meaning. The proposed framework mandates balancing of the competing public interest factors of marketplace confusion and free expression to resolve infringement cases, with the assumption that this approach will rarely lead to liability for defendants. As for claims of reputational harm, the free expression concerns compel defendant-friendly results in all cases. After defending this framework, this Article then scrutinizes the background legal doctrine framing this debate - the Supreme Court's commercial speech doctrine - to discern its relevance to controversies occasioned by unauthorized trademark use. The Article concludes that as commercialism in artistic works such as feature films increases, the line between commercial and noncommercial speech will blur and will again force reconsideration of the border between trademark law and free speech.

Research Handbook on Trademark Law Reform

Research Handbook on Trademark Law Reform
Author: Graeme B. Dinwoodie
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 456
Release: 2021-04-30
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1785366211

This far-reaching Research Handbook is a follow-up to Graeme B. Dinwoodie and Mark D. Janis’s successful book Trademark Law and Theory. It examines reform of trademark law from a number of perspectives and across many jurisdictions, and contains insights from a stellar cast of trademark scholars.

Revisiting the Philosophical Foundations of Trademarks in the US and UK

Revisiting the Philosophical Foundations of Trademarks in the US and UK
Author: Mohammad Amin Naser
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2009-12-14
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1443818291

This book challenges the philosophical foundations of current trademark systems in the USA and the UK. It argues that the process of trademark creation should be transformed to the more practical and realistic proposition of “co-authorship” of trademarks by both the public and trademark owners. The book develops the “Economic-Social Planning justification”, which departs from the economic argument that trademarks reduce consumer search costs, and then proposes that trademarks should be formulated in a manner which helps foster a just and attractive culture. Trademarks are thus seen as source and origin identifiers, rather than quality identifiers. The book focuses on the often ignored role of the public and their rights in trademarks and calls for the adoption of the confusion rationale for trademark protection, not the dilution individualistic rationale. The two jurisdictions of this book prove adverse effects over the rights of the public in terms of using trademarks in cultural and expressive contexts, thereby threatening the principles of freedom of expression as a human fundamental right.

Access to Information and Knowledge

Access to Information and Knowledge
Author: Dana Beldiman
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2013-12-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1783470488

Massive quantities of information are required to fuel the innovation process in a knowledge-based economy; a requirement that is in tension with intellectual property (IP) laws. Against this backdrop, leading thinkers in the IP arena explore the Šacce

Harvard Law Review: Volume 127, Number 8 - June 2014

Harvard Law Review: Volume 127, Number 8 - June 2014
Author: Harvard Law Review
Publisher: Quid Pro Books
Total Pages: 500
Release: 2014-06-10
Genre: Law
ISBN: 161027864X

Harvard Law Review, Number 8 (June 2014), includes an extensive Symposium on Freedom of the Press, as well as an article, "The Criminal Court Audience in a Post-Trial World," by Jocelyn Simonson, and a book review essay, "The Positive Foundations of Formalism: False Necessity and American Legal Realism," by Lawrence B. Solum. Specifically, the Symposium on press freedoms features: * "Introduction: Reflections on the First Amendment and the Information Economy," by Mark Tushnet * "The 'New' New York Times: Free Speech Lawyering in the Age of Google and Twitter," by Marvin Ammori * "Old-School/New-School Speech Regulation," by Jack M. Balkin * "First Amendment Common Sense," by Susan Crawford * "More than a Feeling: Emotion and the First Amendment," by Rebecca Tushnet * "Press Exceptionalism," by Sonja R. West The issue includes these student contributions: * Note, "Congressional Control of Foreign Assistance to Post-Coup States" * Note, "A Bad Man Is Hard to Find" * Note, "Mediation of Investor-State Conflicts" In addition, case notes explore Recent Cases on such subjects as the FCC power to create Open Internet rules; whether enforcement of a foreign judgment is state action; and threat convictions in internet free speech cases; as well as Recent Legislation on immigration law and local entity compliance in California. The issue includes several Recent Publications summaries. Finally, as the final issue of volume 127, it contains a comprehensive Index of each article, essay, book review, and student work from the year. The Harvard Law Review is offered in a quality digital edition, featuring active Contents, linked notes, active URLs in notes, and proper ebook and Bluebook formatting. The Review is a student-run organization whose primary purpose is to publish a journal of legal scholarship. The organization is formally independent of the Harvard Law School. Student editors make all editorial and organizational decisions.

Oxford Handbook of Online Intermediary Liability

Oxford Handbook of Online Intermediary Liability
Author: Giancarlo Frosio
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks
Total Pages: 801
Release: 2020
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0198837135

This book provides a comprehensive, authoritative, and state-of-the-art discussion of fundamental legal issues in intermediary liability online, while also describing advancement in intermediary liability theory and identifying recent policy trends.

Guilty Pleasures

Guilty Pleasures
Author: Laura E. Little
Publisher:
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2019
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 0190625767

In Guilty Pleasures, legal scholar Laura Little provides a multi-faceted account of American law and humor, looking at constraints on humor (and humor's effect on law), humor about law, and humor in law.

Guilty Pleasures

Guilty Pleasures
Author: Laura Little
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2018-11-12
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0190625783

Few people associate law books with humor. Yet the legal world--in particular the American legal system--is itself frequently funny. Indeed, jokes about the profession are staples of American comedy. And there is actually humor within the world of law too: both lawyers and judges occasionally strive to be funny to deal with the drudgery of their duties. Just as importantly, though, our legal system is a strong regulator of humor. It encourages some types of humor while muzzling or punishing others. In a sense, law and humor engage a two-way feedback loop: humor provides the raw material for legal regulation and legal regulation inspires humor. In Guilty Pleasures, legal scholar Laura Little provides a multi-faceted account of American law and humor, looking at constraints on humor (and humor's effect on law), humor about law, and humor in law. In addition to interspersing amusing episodes from the legal world throughout the book, the book contains 75 New Yorker cartoons about lawyers and a preface by Bob Mankoff, the cartoon editor for the New Yorker.

New Zealand Yearbook of International Law

New Zealand Yearbook of International Law
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2022-12-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9004529950

The New Zealand Yearbook of International Law provides legal materials and critical commentary on issues of international law, addressing trends, state practice and policies in the development of international law in New Zealand, the South Pacific, Antarctica and globally. This Yearbook covers the period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.