Dougherty on the Misapplication of "Mastermind": A Mutant Species of Work for Hire and the Mystery of Disappearing Copyrights

F. Jay Dougherty, Loyola Law School (Los Angeles), is publishing The Misapplication of 'Mastermind': A Mutant Species of Work for Hire and the Mystery of Disappearing Copyrights in volume 39 of the Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts (2016). Here is the abstract.

Recent decisions in both the Ninth (Garcia v. Google) and Second (Casa Duse 16) Circuit have applied concepts of "mastermind" authorship or "dominant author" to claims of copyright in individual contributions of actors and directors to a motion picture. This article, which is a transcript of a presentation at Columbia Law School, describes the roots of the "mastermind" concept in copyright and argues for its mis-application in this context.

The full text of the article is not available from SSRN.

Cross-posted to the Media Law Prof Blog.