When Mandatory Arbitration Is Optional (2008)

To resolve disputes and avoid costly litigation, many companies are relying on mandatory arbitration clauses in their contracts. Disputes are inevitable and a cost of doing business, and the rising cost of lawsuits has becoming staggering. Against this backdrop, in the context of an otherwise garden-variety software copyright infringement suit, the Sixth Circuit recently bypassed
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UCITA: Why Consumers Should Read The Fine Print (2002)

Fundamentally, the sale of goods differs from the license of information: when a good is sold, title passes and the buyer owns the item exclusively. Not so with content – the transactional framework is typically non-exclusive, the licensor retains a number of rights, and there are limitations to the uses a licensee can make of
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Tasini: The Supreme Court’s Opinion (2001)

The Supreme Court last week affirmed the decision of the Second Circuit that, absent a written transfer of electronic rights from freelance writers, print publishers and aggregators (named parties included Lexis-Nexis [LN] and University Microfilm International [UMI]) are liable for copyright infringement for reproducing and distributing articles out of the context of the original collective
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Tasini: the Perils of Using Independent Contractor Content (2000)

A recent decision of the Second Circuit underscores just how important careful contract drafting is when dealing with rights transfers in non-employee contexts. In Tasini v. New York Times, the appeals court held that publishers and owners of electronic databases do not, without a specific transfer of rights, have the authority to reuse electronically individual articles
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