Computer Law Seminar Readings

This list will grow as the quarter progresses. Many of these materials were written for lawyers, which means they presume some familiarity with legal terms and concepts. Of course I encourage you to note unfamiliar terms and bring them to class so I can (try to) clarify them.

I have made the non-Web references listed below available in the grad course materials file (the upper left drawer in the filing cabinet outside the ICS kitchen).

Intellectual Property

General

• J. Dianne Brinson and Mark F. Radcliffe, "The Multimedia Law Handbook: A practical guide for developers and publishers". (This site is sometimes hard to get through to.)
• Michael D. Scott, "Advertising in Cyberspace: Business and Legal Considerations," 12 The Computer Lawyer 1 (September 1995). Mike Scott was the original publisher of the Computer/Law Journal, one of the first computer law publications.

Patent

• Patent law Introduction with citations to source material.
• League for Programming Freedom, "Against Software Patents", Communications of the ACM, January 1992.
• Paul Heckel, "Debunking the software patent myths", Communications of the ACM, June 1992.
• E. Robert Yoches, "The Compton's Reexamination---A Sign of the Times," 12 The Computer Lawyer 14 (March 1995).
• Robert C. Laurenson, "Computer Software 'Article of Manufacture' Patents," 12 The Computer Lawyer 18 (June 1995).
• Ronald S. Laurie and Joseph K. Siino, "A bridge over Troubled Waters? Software Patentability and the PTO's Proposed Guidelines." Part I, 12 The Computer Lawyer 6 (September 1995); Part II, 12 The Computer Lawyer 18 (October 1995).
• Keith Stephens and John P. Sumner, "Software Objects: A New Trend in Programming and Software Patents," 12 The Computer Lawyer 15 (November 1995).
• Craig P. Opperman, "U.S. Patent Law's New Face," 12 The Computer Lawyer 7 (March 1995). This article describes how U.S. law will change under GATT.
• David S. Benyacar, "Mathematical Algorithm Patentability: Understanding the Confusion," 19 Rutgers Computer & Technology Law Journal 129 (1993). Consider reading this long article optional; I know, however, that it will interest at least one seminar participant.

Copyright

• Copyright law introduction with citations to source material.
• David L. Hayes, "The Final Word on Apple v. Microsoft," 12 The Computer Lawyer 1 (May 1995). In Apple v. Microsoft, Apple claimed (ultimately unsuccessfully) that its copyright on the Macintosh OS covered many desktop-metaphor graphical user interfaces, and thus that the Microsoft Windows interface infringed.
• Materials on the Lotus v. Borland case, which addresses whether keyboard command sets are copyrightable. The Supreme Court deadlocked 4-4 on this case in January, affirming the Circuit Court's ruling in favor of Borland in a one-line opinion.
• "First Circuit Rejects Copyrightability of Lotus Menus," 12 The Computer Lawyer 21 (April 1995). A news report on the Court of Appeals decision in Lotus v. Borland.
• Anthony L. Clapes and Jennifer M. Daniels, "Lotus v. Borland: Nightmare on Milk Street?", 12 The Computer Lawyer 16 (May 1995). The authors criticize the Court of Appeals decision. Note the affiliations of the authors.
• Jonathan Band, "Lotus v. Borland Through The Lens of Interoperability," 12 The Computer Lawyer 1 (June 1995).
• Nelson R. Capes, "The Software Copyright 'Super Patent'," 12 The Computer Lawyer 8 (June 1995).
• Frederick R. Warren-Boulton, Kenneth C. Baseman, and Glenn A. Woroch, "POINT: Copyright Protection Of Software Can Make Economic Sense," 12 The Computer Lawyer 10 (February 1995).
• Pamela Samuelson, "COUNTERPOINT: An Entirely New Legal Regime Is Needed," 12 The Computer Lawyer 11 (February 1995). Pamela Samuelson writes a column on legal issues in the Communications of the ACM.
• Robert A. Spanner, "The Brave New World of Criminal Software Infringement Prosecutions," 12 The Computer Lawyer 1 (November 1995).

Trade Secret/Trademark

• Trade secret home page
• Ronald L. Johnston and Allen R. Grogan, "Trade Secret Protection for Mass Distributed Software," 11 The Computer Lawyer 1 (November 1994).
• Allyn Taylor, "Trademarks and the Multimedia Explosion," 12 The Computer Lawyer 22 (September 1995).

Contracts

• Daniel Remer and Robert Dunaway, Legal Care For Your Software, provides a thorough overview of computer contracting for the non-lawyer, in Chapters 4 through 8.
• Esther C. Roditti, "Is Self-Help a Lawful Contractual Remedy?", 21 Rutgers Computer & Technology Law Journal 431 (1995).
• D. C. Toedt, "Encryption: An Inexpensive Alternative to Escrow?", 11 The Computer Lawyer 19 (November 1994).
• Robert A. Feldman, "A New Draft of UCC Article 2: A High Tech Code Takes Form," 12 The Computer Lawyer 1 (February 1995).

Litigation and Evidence

• Warren S. Reid, "Tales from the Trenches---Secrets of a High-Tech Expert," 12 The Computer Lawyer 10 (July 1995).
• California Evidence Code sec. 1500 and 1500.5 (the "Best Evidence Rule" and how it applies to computer-based information).
• Kevin Lee Thomason, "Using Computer Generated Evidence."

Telecommunications Act of 1996

• The entire text of the Act is available in hypertext, as well as the controversial Communications Decency Act and V-chip provisions. It's hard to avoid tripping over links to information about the Act; check generally the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU, and the Yahoo CDA page.