The role of standardization and interoperability in copyright protection of computer software

Copyright protection for computer software often presents a contradiction between law and the desired public policy that is the law's inspiration. The law provides incentives to individuals to create intellectual property by protecting authors through monopolistic controls on copying and distributing the authors' work. Conferring too much protection, however, may reduce incentives to create competitive products in the same market, defeating the law's constitutional purpose of encouraging the “Progress of Science and the useful Arts.” Two characteristics of computer software, technical standards and interoperability, compound this contradiction. Using economic literature on standards and the recent line of Lotus v. Borland cases, this article examines the role of standardization and interoperability in copyright protection of computer software, and suggests a part for the fair‐use defense in such cases.     

浅析软件授权合同与著作权保护之关系

一、引言 随着第三次科技革命的深入,人类的生存方式产生 了巨大的变化。数字技术和网络相结合使作品的 传播具有了不同以往的特征,使作品可以被无限 次数地重复制作与传播,而且复制品传输的速度非常快。     

In search of copyright author(s)

Who should be considered the author of a work protected by copyright?In recent years, there has been an expanding critical literatureexamining notions of authorship and the role of the author inthe creative process, often leading to suggestions for waysin which the copyright framework might be recalibrated to recognizecollective effort. This book by Lior Zemer is an excellent additionto those works. Eloquently written and skilfully referenced in the eight chaptersthat make up Zemer's book, its key aim is to persuade the readerthat the individual and the public should be seen as joint authorsof creative works. In making his arguments, he takes us froma Conceptual Challenge (Chapter 2) to a     

Overprovision and the licensing (Scotland) act 1976

This paper examines Scottish licensing law, in particular the granting of licenses to supply alcoholic liquor. Any application for a license must be granted unless one or more of four conditions are fulfilled. One of these, that the award would lead to overprovision, is the central concern of this study. The paper does not investigate why the consumption and distribution of alcohol are regulated nor why regulatory control takes the form it does. ¹ The starting point is rather that regulation exists and takes a particular form. Attention is focused on the operation of this regulatory control and with how it might be improved.In the next section, some of the key features of the licensing law and its appeals are reviewed, establishing the importance of evidence of the presence or otherwise of overprovision. Section II discusses the use of density of licensed premises as a measure of provision, indicates the problems, and argues that a measure might be refined and validated by entering it in an equation explaining the retail price of alcoholic beverages. Section III examines empirically the relationship between price and licensing density.     

Independence of data privacy authorities (Part II): Asia-Pacific experience

Part I of this article in [2012] 28 CLSR 3-13 analysed the views of learned commentators on what constitutes the ‘independence’ of data protection authorities (DPAs). It concluded that a more satisfactory answer needed to be found in the international instruments on data privacy and on human rights bodies, their implementation and judicial interpretation, and in the standards that have been proposed and implemented by DPAs themselves. It found that only the OECD and APEC privacy agreements did not require a DPA (and therefore had no standards for its independence). Thirteen factors were identified as elements of ‘independence’ across these instruments and standards, five of which were more commonly found than others.     

计算机软件专利保护法律问题研究

一、问题的提出 从有关司法判例和趋势来看,美国联邦最高法院于1999年1月维持了联邦巡回上诉法院联邦巡回庭(C.A.F.C.--U.S.Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit)关于州街信托银行诉签记金融集团案件(State Street Bank＆Trust Co.v.Signature Financial Group,Inc.)对"轴辅金融服务咨询配置处理系统(DataProcessing System for Hub and Spoke Financial Service Configuration)"判决受专利保护.     

体育动作可专利性法律问题研究

体育产业化要求利用知识产权保护体育运动参与者的经济利益。体育动作的不断革新要求对引入专利保护进行研究。通过分析专利制度法律规定和体育动作的特性发现,体育动作具有受到专利保护的可能性。但是,通过专利保护体育动作仍然需要克服许多困难,只有体育产业和法律制度能够良好的协调和互动,才能通过体育动作的专利保护促进体育运动的进步和体育产业的健康发展。     

关于珠江三角洲地区农村股份合作赦的调研报告（中）

（三）股权配置和股红分配 股权配置和股红分配（即红利分配）是农村股份合作制中与股民利益关系最大的一个环节。一旦处理不当，很容易引起村民们的不满，继而引发一系列社会问题。     

Dilution in the United States and European Union (and beyond) Part II: testing for blurring

Legal context. Dilution by blurring has often been accused ofbeing a vague concept which is difficult to understand and whichhas no sensible limits. Mindful of the need for certainty inthis area, the US Senate and House of Representatives have passedthe Trademark Dilution Revision Act 2006. This Bill (which isdiscussed more generally in Part I) includes a definition ofblurring and a six-point test for blurring. Meanwhile, the EuropeanUnion has been steadily building up jurisprudence in this area. Key points. This part of the article focuses on dilution byblurring, considering how blurring is defined, how it is testedfor and whether US and EU blurring protection is in compliancewith the jurisdictions’ international obligations in thisarea (discussed in Part I). In particular, it considers thenew definition of, and test for, blurring under the US TrademarkDilution Revision Act 2006, and compares the position underthat Bill to the situation in the EU. Practical significance. Assuming that it enters into law, theRevision Act 2006 has serious implications for the proprietorsof famous marks doing business in the US. This article willinform the owners of such marks what protection they will benefitfrom and how this will differ from the protection they willget in the EU.