The Impact of Film on Law, Lawyers, and the Legal System
March 31st & April 1st, 2006
University of Maryland School of Law

Over the past ten years there has been an explosion in the number of books published that explore the connection between law and film. During the same period the advent of relatively inexpensive emerging media technologies impacted on the production of new work, especially new documentary work. The relative ease with which films can be made and even marketed today raises interesting questions about the relationship of law to film and filmmaking. The legal academy’s increasing fascination with film is reflected in the growing number of courses dedicated to exploring law in film or making wide-spread use of film in teaching students about law.

Films have always reflected prevailing attitudes about law, lawyers and the legal system. But some legal scholars, like Richard Sherwin, argue that contemporary films, whether feature films, documentaries or docudramas, unduly influence legal culture as well. “Real legal issues and controversies give rise to popular legal representations just as popular legal representations help to inform and shape real legal issues and case outcomes” (Sherwin, 2000). This is particularly true of documentary or nonfiction films. The prominence and availability of documentary films on political issues during the 2004 presidential election raises interesting questions about the impact of film on democratic institutions and democracy in general.

During this day and a half symposium law professors, filmmakers, film critics and film industry officials will discuss some of these questions and explore other issues related to the impact of film on law, lawyers and the legal system.

Link: http://www.law.umaryland.edu/conference_detail.asp?conf=24

Boston College Law School will host a conference on “Owning Standards.”
Date: March 31, 2006

Confirmed speakers include:
William Bratton Georgetown University
Michael Carroll Villanova
Lawrence A. Cunningham Boston College
A. Michael Froomkin University of Miami
Herbert Hovenkamp University of Iowa
Scott Kieff Washington University in St. Louis
Mark Lemley Stanford University
Joseph Liu Boston College
Frank Partnoy University of San Diego
Pam Samuelson University of California—Berkeley
Sidney Shapiro Wake Forest University
Greg Vetter University of Houston
Alfred Yen Boston College

UPDATE: Conference website is at http://www.bc.edu/schools/law/fac-staff/scholarlyevents/conferences/

Third Annual Baker Botts Lecture
March 28, 2006

The Honorable Arthur J Gajarsa

University of Houston Law Center

UH Law Center’s Institute for Intellectual Property & Information Law presents the Third Annual Baker Botts Lecture with The Honorable Arthur J. Gajarsa, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The lecture will be held on Tuesday, March 28th beginning at 5:30 p.m. at The Coronado Club (910 Travis). To attend, please kindly RSVP to IPIL@UH.EDU or 713.743.2180.

Third Annual Baker Botts Lecture
March 28, 2006

The Honorable Arthur J Gajarsa

University of Houston Law Center

UH Law Center’s Institute for Intellectual Property & Information Law presents the Third Annual Baker Botts Lecture with The Honorable Arthur J. Gajarsa, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The lecture will be held on Tuesday, March 28th beginning at 5:30 p.m. at The Coronado Club (910 Travis). To attend, please kindly RSVP to IPIL@UH.EDU or 713.743.2180.

The speakers at the Spring 2006 Chicago IP Colloquium have been announced:

January 24, 2006, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Room TBD
Professor Rebecca Eisenberg, The University of Michigan Law School
Paper: Drug Regulation as Intellectual Property

February 7, 2006, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Room 354
Professor Robin Feldman, University of California Hastings College of Law
Paper: Rethinking Rights in Biospace

February 21, 2006, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Room TBD
Professor Joseph Liu, Boston College Law School
Paper: Copyright and Consumer-Enabling Technologies

March 28, 2006, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Room 354
Professor Jessica Litman, Wayne State University Law School
Paper: Sony after Grokster

April 11, 2006, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Room TBD
Professor Greg Lastowka, Rutgers School of Law-Camden
Paper: Digital Attribution: Shifting Information Policy from Copyright to Trademark

April 25, 2006, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Room 354
Professor Sonia Kaytal, Fordham University School of Law
Paper: Trademark Intersectionality

For more details and contact information: http://www.chicagoip.com/

Q. Todd Dickinson, former Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the United States Patent & Trademark Office, and now Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for General Electric Company, will deliver the inaugural Distinguished Lecture in Intellectual Property Law. The title of the lecture is “Intellectual Property in a Global Economy.”

University of Pittsburgh School of Law
3900 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh
Room 113

Date and Time: Tuesday, March 28, 3 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

Link: http://www.law.pitt.edu/madison/images/pitt_ip_lecture.jpg

CommLawConspectus 2006 Spring Symposium
Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Bringing America up to Speed: Delivering on Our Broadband Future Without Sacrificing
Local Identity

Competition in the global economy is increasingly dependent on access to a modern high-speed
telecommunications infrastructure. Bringing access to this high-speed infrastructure to low-income Americans and those in rural, remote, and underserved areas is widely considered
essential for the continued growth of the nation’s economy. Despite this near consensus, there is
considerable disagreement regarding how access can and should be provided to every American,
and how the unique issues presented by competition on a global scale can be contended with.
The 2006 Symposium will allow scholars, practitioners, and students to debate and discuss the
problems and develop solutions to America’s existing telecommunications infrastructure. The
Symposium is divided into four panels: two in the morning and two in the afternoon. A keynote
speech will separate the morning and afternoon panel discussions.

Link: http://commlaw.cua.edu/symposia/symposia_index.cfm

Continue reading →

Cardozo Intellectual Property Law Program
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law – Yeshiva University
Calendar of Events – Spring 2006

Please contact, Brisette Gantt, administrative director, Cardozo Intellectual Property, at gantt (at) yu.edu.

March 27, 4:00pm
Intellectual Property Speaker Series
Jane Winn, University of Washington
Ambivalence & Authority within the Free & Open Source Software Community

STEM CELLS: 2006 SCIENCE, LAW & BUSINESS
Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference

Sponsored with the Boston Patent Law Association and the Suffolk University Law School Intellectual Property Law Concentration

Date: Friday, March 24, 2006

Location: Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA
Time: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Few areas of scientific research have generated more excitement, hope and controversy than stem cell research. While the ethical debate around stem cell research continues, the scientific and medical progress surges forward. The limitless potential of stem cell therapies have, and will continue, to create both business opportunities and legal challenges.

Stem Cells 2006 will be the first conference in Boston to bring together experts from science, law and business to examine the promise and issues surrounding stem cell research. The conference will cover, among other things, a brief introduction to stem cell science, the recent advances in the field, current and pending state and federal legislation, protection and licensing of stem cell intellectual property and the business potential of stem cell discoveries.

Our featured lunch speaker, Boston Globe reporter Gareth Cook, was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism for his coverage of the scientific and ethical dimensions of stem cell research.

Link: http://www.law.suffolk.edu/academic/als/coursedetail.cfm?cid=496

IP/GENDER: THE UNMAPPED CONNECTIONS

MARCH 24, 2006
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW
WASHINGTON, D.C.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Dear Colleagues:

Two years ago, we organized our first workshop on IP/Gender: The Unmapped Connections. Sponsored by the WCL Program on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest and the Women and the Law Program. That first meeting was our initial effort to bring scholars together to focus interdisciplinary attention on the interplay between intellectual property and gender. Last Spring, we built on the discussions from that first workshop by holding a second program highlighting the work of two scholars writing in this emerging area and the publication of their work in the Journal of Gender, Social Policy, and the Law. This Spring, on March 24th we are convening a symposium to explore these connections and showcase ongoing scholarship touching on these topics.

We extend this invitation for papers exploring intellectual property and gender connections. Topics we have discussed in our past meetings have ranged from the impact on intellectual property law and policy of gender-related imbalances in wealth, cultural access, political power, and social control; creative production and gender; the effects of stereotyping and of actual and rhetorical feminization and masculinization of participant roles upon intellectual property stakeholders; the gendered development of IP doctrines and doctrinal categories; related issues in the teaching and practicing of intellectual property; and feminist jurisprudential insights about intellectual property law.

We are hopeful that our Spring 2006 symposium might provide a forum for work that you now have underway or may be contemplating. We are inviting anyone interested in participating to submit a paper to be considered for presentation at the symposium. We would also be grateful if you would forward this email to others you know to be working in or interested in this area. We would appreciate receiving abstracts by Monday, January 23, 2006.

Papers selected for presentation and possible publication will be due in early March. Please send abstracts to Vicki Phillips at vfphillips@wcl.american.edu. Please don’t hesitate to contact one of us if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Peter Jaszi
Ann Shalleck
Christine Farley
Vicki Phillips
Josh Sarnoff

For more information: http://www.ipclinic.org