Author: Gabriel Godoy-Dalmau

In my prior post, I argued that the limited nature of the sound recording copyright has had adverse effects on the scope of protection for other copyrights.1 The copyright act defines a sound recording in terms of the process of fixation, not in terms of substantive expression.2 In response, courts developed bright-line rules towards copying…

“[G]ood artists copy[,] great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.” – Steve Jobs1 Mimicry, homage, and blatant copying create the foundation for several artistic forms, including contrafacts and mash-ups.2 Yet, copying is merely the start of the creative process. At the heart of the arts is the copying-expression cycle:…