Faculty Footnotes a Newsletter About the Faculty of the University of Southern California Gould School of Law
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115674.cgla.r1 10/19/06 9:02 PM Page 2 FALL 2006 FACULTY FOOTNOTES A NEWSLETTER ABOUT THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GOULD SCHOOL OF LAW Critical race theorist joins USC Law aria Roithmayr, a nationally recognized from Georgetown University Law Center, Dcritical race theorist, has joined the USC where she was a member of Order of the Coif Gould School of Law as a professor. and served as senior notes editor for the Georgetown Law Journal. After graduation she clerked for Judge Marvin J. Garbis, on the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. USC Law’s interdisciplinary scholarship and high-caliber faculty attracted Roithmayr to the school. “I came to USC because the faculty here is top-notch and because the unique mix of peo- ple here — people who do law and economics working together with people who do more McCaffery named dean law and social science — fits perfectly with Well-known USC Law professor to my intellectual interests,” she says. “The diversity of the law school student population lead school through June 2007 Daria Roithmayr and the vibrant activism of Los Angeles also SC Law Professor Edward McCaffery has Roithmayr, who was recruited from the were very important factors to me.” U been named dean of the University of University of Illinois, specializes in discrimina- Before joining the faculty at University of Southern California Gould School of Law on an tion, immigration, evidence law, civil litigation, Illinois in 1996, Roithmayr twice served as interim basis effective July l, 2006, through June and trade and globalization. By exploring simi- special counsel for Sen. Edward Kennedy on 30, 2007. larities between race discrimination and market the Senate Judiciary Committee, advising McCaffery succeeds Matthew L. Spitzer, who monopolies, she has developed a theoretical him on the nominations of Justice David announced earlier this year that he would resign model that explains why racial disparities in Souter and Justice Clarence Thomas. on July 1, 2006. Spitzer, who was dean for six jobs, housing and education might persist even “During the Anita Hill hearings, I began years, will remain on the faculty at USC Law. “Everyone at the law school is thrilled to wel- if people no longer intentionally discriminate. to understand how law, politics, race and come Ed as our dean,” says Vice Dean Scott Roithmayr will publish her findings in her gender interact in a way that reproduces Altman. “We all like and admire Ed, having book, Locked in Inequality: A Market Lock-In power, even when the form of power known him for so long as a terrific scholar, a Model of Racial Discrimination, in 2007. changes,” Roithmayr says. natural leader, and a passionate supporter of “We are thrilled to have Daria here at USC Roithmayr also has worked in private prac- USC Law.” Law,” says Edward J. McCaffery, Dean and tice in Washington, D.C., and Phoenix, and Provost C. L. Max Nikias said he is confident Carl M. Franklin Chair in Law. “She is an inno- served as special counsel to the Mississippi that McCaffery and the faculty, staff and students vative scholar, an engaging teacher and a won- Attorney General, litigating the state’s lawsuit of USC Law will continue the school’s momentum derful, spirited colleague. Our faculty and stu- against tobacco companies. In spring 2007, toward “even greater academic success.” dents alike look forward to working with and Roithmayr will participate in a fellowship at “The strong support of the Gould School alumni learning from her.” the Center for Comparative Study of Race and friends has also been crucial to the school Roithmayr received a B.S. in psychobiology and Ethnicity at Stanford University. and will play a vital role in its future,” he added. from UCLA and her J.D., magna cum laude, continued on Page 5 DMCA notices overreach 2 | Lyon receives NIH grant 3 | Faculty activities 6 115674.cgla.r1 10/23/06 8:49 AM Page 3 >> faculty news Internet study finds questionable use of cease-and-desist notices early a third of the copyright USC Law Clinical Professor Jennifer cease-and-desist notices sent to Urban, director of the USC N Google Inc. and other online serv- Intellectual Property Clinic and ice providers under the Digital Millennium co-author of the study with Laura Copyright Act (DMCA) have significant Quilter, a UC Berkeley Samuelson problems with copyright claims or likely Clinic fellow. defenses, a joint USC-UC Berkeley “When other legal issues were study found. also counted, a very high percentage The study, published in Silicon Valley’s of notices inspired questions about Santa Clara Journal of High Tech Law and the process,” Quilter adds. Under Technology in March, found extensive and Section 512 of the DMCA, passed in overbroad applications of the DMCA 1998 by Congress, copyright holders process, which researchers believe severely may ask online service providers to threaten Internet speech. remove content that may infringe “The results indicate a possibly serious upon their copyrights. Because this problem for Internet speech because type of notice is sent with no judi- DMCA notices cause online service cial review of whether a copyright providers to pull material from the Internet was actually infringed upon, legal Jennifer Urban to protect themselves from copyright law- researchers have worried that the system tections for competitors, other creators and suits, generally before their users have is ripe for abuse. the public. We wondered how strong the notice or an opportunity to respond,” says Until this study, however, researchers legal claims in DMCA 512 notices were, had no way to know whether Section 512 because if the underlying copyright com- was working as hoped, or whether people plaints were clear-cut, then the bias toward were using it inappropriately. Urban and takedown might be less of a problem.” Quilter studied a group of nearly 900 However, according to the study, 30 per- DMCA notices collected at the Chilling cent of cease-and-desist orders involved FACULTY FOOTNOTES Effects Clearinghouse (www.chillingef- clear questions about whether the material EDITOR Melinda M. Vaughn fects.org), which for more than three years actually violated a copyright. “These are has been gathering cease-and-desist letters the kinds of situations where it is very CONTRIBUTORS Rizza Barnes, Gilien Silsby, Betsey Hawkins, Lori Stuenkel related to online expression. The majority important to have a court hear the dispute COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR Jennalyn Magtoto of the notices were sent to Google Inc., before material is removed,” Quilter said. PHOTOGRAPHY Tonya McCahon which submits all such notices to Chilling The study highlights other problems as DESIGN Leslie Baker Graphic Design Effects in order to create transparency in well. For example, many of the Google the process. notices involved groups who were getting Notices were reviewed to see how often competitors’ sites pulled out of the search USC LAW FACULTY FOOTNOTES the complaint was legally problematic. For index. Further, some copyright holders is published annually by the USC Gould School of Law. example, researchers looked at whether who, it was hoped, would benefit from For more information, contact: fair use or other defenses were applicable. 512 — particularly movie and music com- Melinda M. Vaughn “Copyright law gives creators strong panies — do not seem to be helped much, USC Gould School of Law rights, an important benefit to society,” since that traffic has moved to peer-to- Los Angeles, CA 90089-0071 says Urban. “But it also has important pro- peer networks. [email protected] 115674.cgla.r1 10/19/06 7:55 PM Page 4 Lyon receives $1.7 million NIH grant to study abused children homas Lyon, USC professor of law The third and fourth phases of the and psychology, has been awarded research will examine whether maltreated T a $1.7 million grant from the children’s true and false narratives can be National Institutes of Health to study why discriminated by analysis of the children’s maltreated children are reluctant to dis- verbal and nonverbal behavior, including close their abuse. their facial expressions and body language, The goal of the research, Lyon said, and whether lay people or professionals is to find ways to encourage children can differentiate between children who are to reveal truthful information without disclosing truthfully from children who are increasing the risks of suggestibility either concealing information or providing of influence. false information. “Most research on child witnesses in the In all phases, the performance of abused past 15 years has emphasized the risks of children will be compared to non-maltreated Thomas Lyon false allegations caused by suggestive ques- children to help determine whether the mal- tioning,” Lyon said. “What has been neg- The researchers will determine the treated children’s life experiences lead them lected are problems that come up when developmental trajectory of children’s con- to think or behave differently. truly abused children are reluctant to dis- ceptions of the morality and consequences The interdisciplinary research program close their abuse. The reasons may be that of disclosure and non-disclosure. For integrates developmental psychology and they are afraid, the law in order to embarrassed or The results of this research, in addition to contribut- make recommendations simply immature.” “ ing to our understanding of child development and for practice. Lyon is Research has actively engaged in the effects of maltreatment, will have enormous found that most training social workers, adults who disclose practical value in helping professionals develop the attorneys and other childhood abuse most sensitive means for questioning children.” professionals on how to never mentioned —Professor Lyon interview children the incidents to using research-based anyone as a child.