Post by Sapphire Capital on Jan 28, 2009 22:11:45 GMT 4
Collateralizing Intellectual Property
Xuan-Thao Nguyen
Southern Methodist University - Dedman School of Law
April 17, 2008
Georgia Law Review, Forthcoming
SMU Dedman School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 00-31
Abstract:
Consider the following hypothetical. You receive a frantic call from Dan Brown, asking you for assistance. Breathlessly, he quickly provides some pertinent information about his urgent matter. An unknown author a few years ago, Brown was thrilled to finish his manuscript, The Da Vinci Code. A kind and generous friend who operated a financing company (the Creditor) provided a $50,000 loan to him in exchange for a security interest in the copyright of The Da Vinci Code. Brown read the boilerplate security agreement, granting the Creditor a security interest in the "general intangibles," and signed the document. The Creditor then filed the necessary documents stating that it has a security interest in Brown's "general intangibles." Brown later wrote a sequel to The Da Vinci Code, building on the character of Dr. Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbologist that he had previously developed. In the meantime, Brown depleted the money and defaulted on the original loan, prompting the creditor to foreclose on the copyright and sell it to the Purchaser. The Purchaser, as the new copyright owner, now asserts that Brown violated the Purchaser's copyright because the sequel is a derivative work of the original. In addition, Miramax wants to make a movie and is ready to negotiate with the current owner of the copyright, the Purchaser, instead of Brown. Brown is frustrated, believing he has the derivative right for a movie option and control over his own creative output in writing a new sequel. Brown needs your help and he has your sympathy. Unfortunately for both Brown and you, neither copyright nor secured transaction laws directly address the issues at hand. That is the current state of collateralization of intellectual property. Here, the hypothetical presents the problem of the collateralization of a copyright of a book.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1317443_code754202.pdf?abstractid=1317443&mirid=1
Xuan-Thao Nguyen
Southern Methodist University - Dedman School of Law
April 17, 2008
Georgia Law Review, Forthcoming
SMU Dedman School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 00-31
Abstract:
Consider the following hypothetical. You receive a frantic call from Dan Brown, asking you for assistance. Breathlessly, he quickly provides some pertinent information about his urgent matter. An unknown author a few years ago, Brown was thrilled to finish his manuscript, The Da Vinci Code. A kind and generous friend who operated a financing company (the Creditor) provided a $50,000 loan to him in exchange for a security interest in the copyright of The Da Vinci Code. Brown read the boilerplate security agreement, granting the Creditor a security interest in the "general intangibles," and signed the document. The Creditor then filed the necessary documents stating that it has a security interest in Brown's "general intangibles." Brown later wrote a sequel to The Da Vinci Code, building on the character of Dr. Robert Langdon, the Harvard symbologist that he had previously developed. In the meantime, Brown depleted the money and defaulted on the original loan, prompting the creditor to foreclose on the copyright and sell it to the Purchaser. The Purchaser, as the new copyright owner, now asserts that Brown violated the Purchaser's copyright because the sequel is a derivative work of the original. In addition, Miramax wants to make a movie and is ready to negotiate with the current owner of the copyright, the Purchaser, instead of Brown. Brown is frustrated, believing he has the derivative right for a movie option and control over his own creative output in writing a new sequel. Brown needs your help and he has your sympathy. Unfortunately for both Brown and you, neither copyright nor secured transaction laws directly address the issues at hand. That is the current state of collateralization of intellectual property. Here, the hypothetical presents the problem of the collateralization of a copyright of a book.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1317443_code754202.pdf?abstractid=1317443&mirid=1