Congressional Research Service Reports - 130 Matching Results

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Copyright Law: Legalizing Home Taping of Audio and Video Recordings

Description: Various Members of Congress have proposed amendments to the Copyright Act that would provide a blanket exemption for noncommercial home audio and video off-air recording. The major thrust of the copyright owners' opposing position is if you cannot protect what you own, or at least receive some compensation for its use, you own nothing. This is countered by those who feel the purpose of the copyright law is to promote broad public availability of artistic products and when the copyright owners d… more
Date: July 8, 1982
Creator: Wallace, Paul S., Jr.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Biotechnology, Indigenous Peoples, and Intellectual Property Rights

Description: This report examines intellectual property right in pharmaceuticals in a particular context, namely, medicinal products and processes derived from the biodiversity resources of areas inhabited by indigenous peoples. This report discusses the international law regarding intellectual property rights in traditional knowledge and the American laws regarding traditional knowledge.
Date: April 16, 1993
Creator: Axt, Josephie R.; Corn, M. Lynne; Lee, Margaret Mikyung & Ackerman, David M.
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The GATT and the WTO: An Overview

Description: The Uruguay Round Agreement reduced tariffs, brought services, intellectual property, and agriculture under the discipline of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and established the World Trade Organization. Multilateral trade issues for the future include continuing services negotiations, the relationship of the environment and labor standards to trade, and investment and competition policy.
Date: March 27, 1995
Creator: Wilson, Arlene
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The China-U.S. Trade Agreement on Intellectual Property Rights: Implications for China-U.S. Trade Relations

Description: The United States has pressed China over the past several years to improve its enforcement of U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR) in China and to provide greater market access to intellectual property-related products, such as computer software, CDs, and audio-visual products. Trade tensions over these issues nearly led the United States to impose trade sanctions against China in 1992 and 1995. In March 1995, the United States and China signed a new and detailed IPR trade agreement, which p… more
Date: April 5, 1995
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M.
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The China-U.S. Intellectual Property Rights Dispute: Background and Implications for China-U.S. Economic Relations

Description: The United States has pressed China over the past several years to improve its protection of U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR) and to afford greater market access to intellectual property-related products, such as computer software, compact disks (CDs), and audio-visual products. U.S. threats of trade sanctions against Chinese products helped produce trade agreements in January 1992 and February 1995 that pledged China to improve its IPR enforcement regime and expand market access for IPR… more
Date: May 24, 1996
Creator: Morrison, Wayne M.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Patent Reform: Overview and Comparison of S. 507 and H.R. 400

Description: H.R. 400 and S. 507 are similar but different omnibus patent reform proposals. Both bills generally transform the Patent and Trademark Office into a government corporation; require publication of patent applications 18 months after filing, subject to certain exceptions that differ in these bills; and extend the patent term for certain delays in patent issuance. S. 507 also contains provisions on patent reexamination reform. This report summarizes and compares the bills and reviews arguments for… more
Date: April 16, 1998
Creator: Schrader, Dorothy
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Copyright Term Extension: Estimating the Economic Values

Description: This report considers proposals to extend the duration of copyrights by 20 years (as in H.R. 2589 and other bills) and related proposals to charge a fee to the owners in order to receive the extension. The method of analysis is economic rather than legal. The report reviews the basic economic principals involved in copyright law and gives rough estimates of the value of copyrights on books, music, and movies produced in the 1920s and 1930s — those that would be most immediately affected by an e… more
Date: May 11, 1998
Creator: Rappaport, Edward
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Copyright Term Extension: Estimating the Economic Values

Description: This report considers proposals to extend the duration of copyrights by 20 years (as in H.R. 2589 and other bills) and related proposals to charge a fee to the owners in order to receive the extension. The method of analysis is economic rather than legal. The report reviews the basic economic principals involved in copyright law and gives rough estimates of the value of copyrights on books, music, and movies produced in the 1920s and 1930s — those that would be most immediately affected by an e… more
Date: May 11, 1998
Creator: Rappaport, Edward B.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Patent Reform: Overview and Comparison of S. 507 and H.R. 400

Description: The pending omnibus patent reform bills (S. 507 and H.R. 400) would reorganize the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) as a government corporation and enact several other patent law reforms including early publication (with exceptions) and patent term restoration. S. 507 consists of six titles; H.R. 400 contains five titles.
Date: August 4, 1998
Creator: Schrader, Dorothy
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Intellectual Property Protection for Noncreative Databases

Description: Copyright law protects works of authorship that exhibit original, creative expression, including creativity in the selection, arrangement, or coordination both of traditional printed and electronic databases. Noncreative databases are not subject to copyright protection, although some protection is available through a combination of contract law, trade secrecy law, and misappropriation doctrines of state law.
Date: September 15, 1999
Creator: Schrader, Dorothy & Jeweler, Robin
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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American Inventors Protection Act of 1999

Description: After several years of consideration, on Friday, November 19, 1999, Congress gave final approval to a bill which makes major changes to the patent laws. On this day the Senate passed the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 as part of the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999, attached by reference to the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2000. This report summarizes major provisions of the patent reform bill.
Date: February 28, 2000
Creator: Seitzinger, Michael V.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Copyright Doctrine of Fair Use and the Internet: Caselaw

Description: This report examines the evolving copyright doctrine of fair use within the context of copyrighted works published or placed on the Internet. American courts have been examining the various property rights of copyright owners concurrently with the unauthorized use of these copyrighted materials by Web site operators, Internet consumers, access providers, and other interested parties. This report analyzes the early fair use copyright cases concerning Internet use, as well as the most recent judi… more
Date: March 30, 2000
Creator: Weimer, Douglas R.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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An Examination of the Issues Surrounding Biotechnology Patenting and Its Effect Upon Entrepreneurial Companies

Description: The biotechnology industry is notable both for its heavy concentration of small businesses and its weighty research and development (R&D) expenditures. Given the small size and heavy expenses of many biotechnology firms, their ability to raise venture capital may be of some consequence. The patent law has been identified as a facilitator of these R&D financing efforts. Congress may choose to exercise oversight on these issues. Such consideration would likely include examination of U.S. commitme… more
Date: August 31, 2000
Creator: Thomas, John R.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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R&D Partnerships and Intellectual Property: Implications for U.S. Policy

Description: Congressional interest in the value of intellectual property has grown as technology becomes increasingly important to the United States. It is now widely accepted that technological progress accounts for up to one-half of the nation's economic growth. Concurrently, the role of patents has changed as the use of cooperative research and development (R&D) expands to facilitate this technological advancement and generate new products, processes, and services for the marketplace.
Date: December 6, 2000
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Patent Ownership and Federal Research and Development (R and D): A Discussion on the Bayh-Dole Act and the Stevenson-Wydler Act

Description: Two major laws govern the dispensation of patents associated with federal research and development (R&D) activities. Both P.L. 96-418, the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act, as amended, and P.L. 96-517, Amendments to the Patent and Trademark Act (commonly referred to as "Bayh-Dole" after its two main sponsors, former Senators Birch Bayh and Robert Dole), are the foundation for efforts to utilize patent ownership to encourage the commercialization of technologies and techniques that hav… more
Date: December 11, 2000
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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New York Times Co. v. Tasini: The U.S. Supreme Court Affirms “Authorial” Rights in Copyright

Description: This report examines the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in New York Times Co. v. Tasini. This case considers whether, under the U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 201(c), publishers are “privileged” to include the copyrighted articles of freelance authors in an electronic database.
Date: July 13, 2001
Creator: Jeweler, Robin
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Fair Use on the Internet

Description: The originating objective of copyright, as stated in the Constitution, was to promote the progress of science and the useful arts. Rewarding the labor of authors is viewed as furthering that objective. The Copyright Act serves this two-tier purpose by vesting in authors of protected works certain exclusive rights. This report reviews the development of fair use on the Internet.
Date: May 21, 2002
Creator: Jennings, Christopher Alan
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Plants, Patents, and Seed Innovation in the Agricultural Industry

Description: This report offers an overview of the availability of intellectual property rights for plants, focusing upon the seed industry. It initially offers an introduction to seed innovation. The report then reviews the three intellectual property regimes applicable to plant innovation: utility patents, plant patents and plant variety protection certificates. It then details a 2001 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, J.E.M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., which held that sexuall… more
Date: September 13, 2002
Creator: Thomas, John R.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Copyright Term Extension: Eldred v. Ashcroft

Description: This report examines the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Eldred v. Ashcroft. Plaintiffs/Petitioners challenged the constitutionality under the Copyright Clause of a law adding 20 years to the terms of existing and future copyrights. The law was upheld by both the U.S. district court and the court of appeals considering it. Among the questions before the Supreme Court was whether Congress may retrospectively extend the term of copyright for existing copyrights; and, what role and impact, if any… more
Date: February 14, 2003
Creator: Jeweler, Robin
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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"Digital Rights" and Fair Use in Copyright Law

Description: This report examines judicial case law which has considered the doctrine of fair use in relation to the First Amendment, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and as a means of protecting private, noncommercial use of digital music and film by consumers. It concludes that when the potential to infringe is great, as it almost always will be in a digital environment, the courts have not been willing to expand fair use to encompass subsidiary uses such as time shifting, space shifting, or personal… more
Date: March 24, 2003
Creator: Jeweler, Robin
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Geographical Indications and WTO Negotiations

Description: This report discusses the issue of expanding intellectual property protections for geographical indications for wines, spirits, and agricultural products is being debated in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Date: July 14, 2003
Creator: Hanrahan, Charles E.
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Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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