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The Intellectual Property Omnibus Reform Act of 1999

On November 19, 1999, Congress passed the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999 as part of the consolidated appropriations bill. Chief among its provisions is the extension of the satellite carrier compulsory license, which permits the retransmission of distant television station signals. In addition, the bill creates a new royalty-free compulsory license for retransmission of local television stations by satellite carriers. It allows satellite carriers, for the first time, to legally offer local stations to their viewers, a right cable operators have always had. Congress also reduced the royalty fees that satellite carriers must pay for superstation and network rebroadcasts.

Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism

A copyright holder has the exclusive rights to reproduce, display, transmit, perform, and modify a work as well as the right to publicly perform a sound recording by digital transmission. There are exemptions in the Copyright Act that provide for certain exceptions to those exclusive rights, many in favor of limited nonprofit educational purposes. If none of the exemptions apply, the proposed use of someone else's copyrighted work will probably be copyright infringement. If proper attribution is required and is missing, the proposed use will also be plagiarism. Copyright laws prohibit plagiarism.

The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2002

The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2002 (TEACH) outlines which uses of copyrighted materials in an educational setting are legally permissible, amending part of the 1976 U.S. Copyright Act so that it applies to distance education conducted virtually through online classrooms. It sets a standard for use of copyrighted materials in online, virtual classrooms that differs from use of such materials in a physical classroom. Under TEACH, teachers employed by an accredited, nonprofit educational institution are granted specific liberties, in addition to fair use, when using digital materials to teach in a virtual setting.

Passing Off

In "passing off" a seller associates another party's mark with a good or service. The law of passing off concerns unfair competition more generally in situations where there does not need to be a registered trademark or any other intellectual property right. Where a second business does something so that the public is misled into thinking that the activity is associated with a first business and as a result the first business suffers some damage, then it may be possible for the first business to sue the second business for passing off. One area where passing off might apply is where a second person uses an unregistered trademark normally used by a first person and in so doing passes off, or represents, goods or services in such away that the public is deceived into thinking the goods or services are being offered by the first person. This area of law arises out of the common law rather than statute

Distribution Rights

The distribution right grants to the copyright holder the exclusive right to make a work available to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease, or lending. The owner of a copyright has the right to give away, sell, or withhold any material embodiment of his or her work. In essence, this is the right to control publication of a work because publication without distribution of copies is meaningless. This right allows the copyright holder to prevent the distribution of unauthorized copies of a work. In addition, the right allows the copyright holder to control the first distribution of a particular authorized copy. However, the distribution right is limited by the "first sale doctrine," which states that after the first sale or distribution of a copy, the copyright holder can no longer control what happens to that copy.