Student Articles – McCarthy Student Articles

2024 - 2025 Student Articles

Friendly Fire: Why the Copyright War Against Fanfiction Matters

By Annie Weiler Annie Weiler is a 1L J.D. candidate at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. As the Chair of Line Editing and Cite Checking for the McCarthy Institute, she is particularly interested in the intersection of intellectual property, entertainment, and consumer protection Outside of intellectual property, Annie is interested in professional ethics, […]

Harmonizing the Legal Landscape of Brain-Computer Interfaces in the Music Industry

By Kylie Snow Kylie Snow is a third year J.D. candidate at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Before law school she completed her B.S. in Biological Sciences and her M.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology. While in law school she serves as the Senior Note and Comment Editor for Jurimetrics, is the McCarthy […]

Analyzing Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy

By Timmy Basista Timmy Basista is a 3L JD candidate at ASU Law with a strong interest in clerking aiming to carve a pathway up to clerking at the Federal Circuit. They are one of the Student Co-Executive Directors of the McCarthy Institute. They especially enjoy copyright and patent within the field of IP. Along […]

2023-2024 Student Articles

Fashion Forward: The Rise of Utility Patents in the Fashion Industry

Analyzing Baxalta Inc. v. Genentech, Inc.

The Impacts of the Patent Eligibility Reformation Act of 2023 On Patent Subject Matter Validity

By Maha Qureshi Maha Qureshi is a 3L at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University with a strong interest in Law, Science, and Innovation. She is the Associate Editor for Patent Scholarship for The McCarthy Institute and also serves as an Executive Editor for Jurimetrics, the journal of the American Bar Association […]

“Trump Too Small” has Big Implications in the World of Intellectual Property

By Matthew Holt Matt is a 3L pursuing a JD and a Masters in Sports Law and Business at ASU Law. He is also the Senior Fellow for Scholarship in the McCarthy Institute. He has a strong interest in trademark and trade secret law. In addition to his intellectual property pursuits, Matt also has a […]

2022-2023 Student Articles

This Article Was Written by ChatGPT. The US Copyright Office Says It’s Copyrightable, Maybe.

By Jackson Pittman With contributions from Chat GPT (see text in blue). Note: The U.S. Copyright Office’s official guidance for AI-generated works was discussed at the McCarthy Institute Copyright Symposium in Los Angeles on March 16, 2023. In March 2023, the U.S. Copyright Office released official guidance concerning the copyrightability of AI-generated works. [1] The […]

Taylor Swift: Not Your Average Adversary

By Elizabeth Porter Midnight Album Leaks and the DMCA Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album, Midnights, was scheduled to release on October 21, 2022, but when fans got their hands on the physical album days before the planned release, copies of the songs started to appear on the internet. When song recordings are posted publicly without […]

Fashion And Intellectual Property: What Is Fashion Law, How Does It Relate To Intellectual Property, And How Are Protections Falling Short For Designers

By Markus Benavidez From the sensual red bottom of a Christian Louboutin heel, the iconic Louis Vuitton “LV” symbol, and the infamous “Nike Swoosh,” fashion is all around. Whether you strive to obtain the new “it bag,” or the new sneakers that “just dropped,” everyone interacts with fashion on a daily basis. Fashion can serve […]