Evans to Present at Third Annual IP Roundtable at Columbus School of Law

On November 18, 2011, The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law will host the Third Annual Intellectual Property Roundtable.  The Roundtable was formed to promote both discussion of a range of issues in intellectual property and networking.  The Roundtable is an annual opportunity for academics to learn about the ongoing research of fellow scholars.

Title:  Intellectual Property Roundtable
Date:   November 18, 2011
Time:   12:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Info: Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law

Evans, who teaches Copyright & Trademark, intellectual property seminars, and a year-long first-year Property course, will present her current work-in-progress titled Reverse Engineering Copyright: Sampling Patent to Remix Copyright. The paper asserts that copyright reform initiatives should “sample” (that is, borrow from) patent policies to “remix” (that is, inform and reform) copyright jurisprudence. Specifically, this article explores the role that “reverse engineering” and other patent policies have played in protecting the “space” second-generation inventors enjoy to build upon and around existing inventions that justify the patent monopoly. Professor Evans asserts that this approach both empowers creators to access existing works for certain purposes and at the same time still protects rights holders in a way that honors the IP Clause’s directive to secure certain exclusive rights. Such an approach is particularly vital in collaborative and cumulative creative genres like music as well as other performance art forms born traditionally out of collaboration and cumulative creative effort. Accordingly, patent policy should be “sampled” to remix copyright.