Topicality - Emory 2024

Topicality & Answers – ENDI ‘24
Resolution
Resolution
Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.
Neg
Topicality Subsets---1NC
Interpretation:
“In” means “throughout”
Words and Phrases 8 (Permanent Edition, vol. 20a, p. 207)
Colo. 1887. In the Act of 1861 providing that justices of the peace shall have jurisdiction “in” their respective counties to hear and determine all complaints, the word “in” should be construed to mean “throughout” such counties. Reynolds v. Larkin, 14, p. 114, 117, 10 Colo. 126.
And, strengthening “rights” refers to “all” rights.
Fatai Omotosho 19. Lecturer Department of General Studies, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State. Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy of Nigeria. Journal of Philosophy, Culture and Religion www.iiste.org ISSN 2422-8443 An International Peer-reviewed Journal DOI: 10.7176/JPCR Vol.40, 2019
Legal rights refer to all those rights found within existing legal codes that are protected by law and enforceable. A legal right is a right that enjoys the recognition and protection of the law (enforceable). A legal right cannot be said to exist prior to its passing into law and the limits of its validity are set by the jurisdiction of the body that passed the relevant legislation. An example of a legal right would be women’s right to vote and be voted for in Nigeria, as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Unlike moral rights which are grounded in moral reasons, legal rights derive from the laws of the society, legislature, customary rights that exist by local convention. Legal rights are such that, in theory, if they are violated, violator scan be punished by the criminal system (Omotosho 2017, 6 - 8).
Violation: the affirmative only strengthens copyright for materials infringed upon by generative AI. That doesn’t strengthen all copyright.
Vote negative:
1. Limits. They open the floodgates to affirmatives that strengthen copyright for a single work against a single type of infringement, justifying thousands of individual affirmatives.
2. Ground. Core negative arguments are premised on large change across an entire area. We lose access to court clog, innovation, and economy disadvantages, which makes neg preparation impossible.
Violation---“In”---2NC/1NR
“In” means throughout
Oxoden 1866
(Ashton, Reverend and Honorary Canon of Canterbury, “Our Church and Her Services”, p. 67, Google Books)
Thirdly, that His will may be done by us here on earth, as it is done by saints and angels in the world above. We say "in earth," and not on earth; for the word in means throughout—that is to say, in every part of the earth.
Violation---“Copyright”---2NC/1NR
And, “copyright” is a mass noun.
Millfield Library n.d. Millfield Library Blog, citing online Oxford Living Dictionary. "Copyright". https://millfieldlibrary.wordpress.com/copyright/
copyright
NOUN
1[mass noun] The exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material.
‘he issued a writ for breach of copyright’
‘making an unauthorized copy would infringe copyright’
[count noun]‘works whose copyrights had lapsed’
That means it’s not divisible.
English Club 13. http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-un-countable_2.htm
Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself Here are some more uncountable nouns: music, art, love, happiness advice, information, news furniture, luggage rice, sugar, butter, water electricity, gas, power money, currency We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example: This news is very important. Your luggage looks heavy. We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a "something" of: a piece of news a bottle of water a grain of rice We can use some and any with uncountable nouns: I've got some money. Have you got any rice? We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns: I've got a little money. I haven't got much rice. Uncountable nouns are also called "mass nouns".
Violation---“Rights”---2NC/1NR
Rights are ALL rights.
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "Human Rights". https://iep.utm.edu/hum-rts/
The distinction drawn between moral rights and legal rights as two separate categories of rights is of fundamental importance to understanding the basis and potential application of human rights. Legal rights refer to all those rights found within existing legal codes. A legal right is a right that enjoys the recognition and protection of the law. Questions as to its existence can be resolved by simply locating the relevant legal instrument or piece of legislation. A legal right cannot be said to exist prior to its passing into law and the limits of its validity are set by the jurisdiction of the body which passed the relevant legislation. An example of a legal right would be my daughter’s legal right to receive an adequate education, as enshrined within the United Kingdom’s Education Act (1944). Suffice it to say, that the exercise of this right is limited to the United Kingdom. My daughter has no legal right to receive an adequate education from a school board in Southern California. Legal positivists argue that the only rights that can be said to legitimately exist are legal rights, rights that originate within a legal system. On this view, moral rights are not rights in the strict sense, but are better thought of as moral claims, which may or may not eventually be assimilated within national or international law. For a legal positivist, such as the 19th. Century legal philosopher Jeremy Bentham, there can be no such thing as human rights existing prior to, or independently from legal codification. For a positivist determining the existence of rights is no more complicated than locating the relevant legal statute or precedent. In stark contrast, moral rights are rights that, it is claimed, exist prior to and independently from their legal counterparts. The existence and validity of a moral right is not deemed to be dependent upon the actions of jurists and legislators. Many people argued, for example, that the black majority in apartheid South Africa possessed a moral right to full political participation in that country’s political system, even though there existed no such legal right. What is interesting is that many people framed their opposition to apartheid in rights terms. What many found so morally repugnant about apartheid South Africa was precisely its denial of numerous fundamental moral rights, including the rights not to be discriminated against on grounds of colour and rights to political participation, to the majority of that country’s inhabitants. This particular line of opposition and protest could only be pursued because of a belief in the existence and validity of moral rights. A belief that fundamental rights which may or may not have received legal recognition elsewhere, remained utterly valid and morally compelling even, and perhaps especially, in those countries whose legal systems had not recognized these rights. A rights-based opposition to apartheid South Africa could not have been initiated and maintained by appeal to legal rights, for obvious reasons. No one could legitimately argue that the legal political rights of non-white South Africans were being violated under apartheid, since no such legal rights existed. The systematic denial of such rights did, however, constitute a gross violation of those peoples’ fundamental moral rights.
Limits---2NC/1NR
They explode the topic. At least fifty different things can be copyrighted.
Andrea Sager 23. Legal advice company. "50 Things That Can Be Copyrighted". Legalpreneur. --2023. https://thelegalpreneur.com/blog/50thingscopyright/
Every single day I have a client say, “Oh! I didn’t know that could be copyrighted!” Because of this, I’ve decided to compile a list of 50 things that can be copyrighted. I won’t go into the details about copyrights here, but you can read about the basics of a copyright here. *NOTE – these things CAN be copyrighted, but they still must meet the copyright requirements.
1. Photos
2. Logos
3. Promotional brochures
4. T-shirt designs
5. Course content
6. Website content
7. Website design
8. Jewelry
9. Fashion prints
10. Movies
11. Poems
12. Song lyrics
13. Books
14. Artwork
15. Paintings
16. Recording
17. Blog posts
18. Architectural works
19. Sound recordings
20. Plays
21. Computer Software
22. Articles
23. Essays
24. Directories
25. Advertisements
26. Speeches
27. Catalogs
28. Scripts
29. Screenplays
30. Operas
31. Sketches
32. Drawings
33. Cartoons
34. Paintings
35. Greeting cards
36. Maps
37. Charts
38. Sculptures
39. Wallpaper
40. Fabric Designs
41. Live webcasts
42. Podcasts
43. Magazine designs
44. Advertising art
45. Mp3 files
46. Youtube videos
47. Blueprints
48. Product description
49. Ebooks
50. Videos
This is not an exhaustive list of what can be copyrighted, but it contains a lot of works that many modern-day entrepreneurs may be creating.
If you are someone that regularly creates works that are protected by copyright, I highly suggest filing for a federal registration. This blog post will explain why you need to file for the registration ASAP!
And there’s at least 5 mechanisms of copyright infringement.
Manish Jindal 24. Co-Founder and COO of BytesCare, with expertise in investment banking and a CFA Charterholder. "Copyright Infringement Statistics”. BytesCare. 1-17-2024. https://bytescare.com/blog/copyright-infringement-statistics
Types of Copyright Infringement
Unauthorised Copying and Distribution
Physical media: This involves the unauthorised duplication and distribution of copyrighted materials in physical formats, such as CDs, DVDs, and printed books.
Digital media: This includes the illegal copying and sharing of copyrighted digital content, such as music, movies, software, and e-books, through file-sharing networks, unauthorised streaming platforms, or other digital channels.
Stream-ripping
Stream-ripping refers to the practice of converting streamed content, like music or videos, into downloadable files without the copyright holder’s permission.
This type of infringement has seen significant growth in recent years due to the increasing popularity of legal streaming platforms.
Public Performance and Display
This type of infringement occurs when copyrighted works, such as music, movies, or images, are performed or displayed publicly without obtaining the necessary licenses or permissions from the copyright holder.
Creation of Derivative Works
Creating derivative works, such as adaptations, translations, or remixes, without the copyright holder’s permission constitutes copyright infringement.
This includes, for example, creating a movie based on a copyrighted novel or producing a cover of a copyrighted song without obtaining the necessary rights.
Software Piracy
Software piracy refers to the unauthorised copying, distribution, or use of copyrighted software.
This can include installing a single licensed copy on multiple devices, downloading cracked software from illegal sources, or distributing unauthorised copies to others.
Plagiarism
While not always a direct form of copyright infringement, plagiarism involves the unauthorised use of someone else’s copyrighted work, often presenting it as one’s own.
This can include copying and pasting text from an article or book, using someone else’s images or graphics, or incorporating someone else’s music or lyrics without proper attribution or permission.
That’s multiplied by multiple distinct mechanisms of enforcement.
Justia 23. "Enforcement of Copyrights Through Lawsuits & Criminal Charges ". 10-1-2023. https://www.justia.com/intellectual-property/copyright/enforcement/
If somebody infringes your copyright, you are entitled to file a lawsuit in federal court to enforce your rights. Remedies include obtaining an injunction or restraining order to prevent additional violations, an award of money damages, and possibly attorneys’ fees. The court can also order while an action is pending that any copies that are alleged to be in violation of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights, as well as templates for reproduction and records, be impounded. When making its final orders, the court can order the destruction or disposition of all the infringing copies that violated the copyright owner’s exclusive rights, as well as the templates for reproduction.
Aff
AT: T-Subsets---2AC
1. We meet. The plan applies to all copyrighted material infringed upon by generative AI.
2. Counter-interpretation: “In” means within --- this is the core meaning
Encarta 7 – Encarta World English Dictionary, 7 (“In (1)”, 2007, http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861620513)
in [ in ] CORE MEANING: a grammatical word indicating that something or somebody is within or inside something.
1. preposition indicates place: indicates that something happens or is situated somewhere
He spent a whole year in Russia.
2. preposition indicates state: indicates a state or condition that something or somebody is experiencing
The banking industry is in a state of flux.
3. preposition after: after a period of time that will pass before something happens
She should be well enough to leave in a week or two.
4. preposition during: indicates that something happens during a period of time
He crossed the desert in 39 days.
5. preposition indicates how something is expressed: indicates the means of communication used to express something
I managed to write the whole speech in French.
6. preposition indicates subject area: indicates a subject or field of activity
She graduated with a degree in biology.
7. preposition as consequence of: while doing something or as a consequence of something
In reaching for a glass he knocked over the ashtray.
8. preposition covered by: indicates that something is wrapped or covered by something
The floor was covered in balloons and toys.
9. preposition indicates how somebody is dressed: indicates that somebody is dressed in a particular way
She was dressed in a beautiful suit.
10. preposition pregnant with: pregnant with offspring
The cows were in calf.
11. adjective fashionable: fashionable or popular
always knew which clubs were in
12. adjective holding power or office: indicates that a party or group has achieved or will achieve power or authority
voted in overwhelmingly
“Rights” include any entitlement to something.
Law.com. "Legal Dictionary". Rights. Law. The People's Law Dictionary by Gerald and Kathleen Hill. https://dictionary.law.com/Default.aspx?selected=1857
right
1) n. an entitlement to something, whether to concepts like justice and due process or to ownership of property or some interest in property, real or personal. These rights include: various freedoms; protection against interference with enjoyment of life and property; civil rights enjoyed by citizens such as voting and access to the courts; natural rights accepted by civilized societies; human rights to protect people throughout the world from terror, torture, barbaric practices and deprivation of civil rights and profit from their labor; and such U.S. constitutional guarantees as the right to freedoms of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition. 2) adj. just, fair, correct.
Prefer our interpretation:
3. Aff ground. They overlimit. Their interpretation is functionally three affs which makes debates stale and reduces the incentive for original research.
4. Precision---courts have found it to be the obvious meaning.
Cullen 52 – Cullen, Court of Appeals of Kentucky, 52, Commissioner, Court of Appeals of Kentucky, November 13, 1952 Riehl et al. V. Kentucky unemployment compensation commission; the judgment is affirmed. Rehearing denied; COMBS, J., and SIMS, C. J., dissenting. http://ky.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19521113_0040095.KY.htm/qx
We do not find any ambiguity in KRS 341.070(1). It is our opinion that the key word in the statute is the word 'in,' preceding the words 'each of three calendar quarters', and if the word is accorded its ordinary and common meaning, the statute does not require simultaneous employment. According to Webster's New International Dictionary, the word 'in,' used with relation to a period of time, means 'during the course of.' The same meaning, expressed in another way, would be 'within the limits or duration of.' Employing this meaning, the statute says that an employer is subject to the Act if, during the course of, or within the limits or duration of each of three calendar quarters, he had in covered employment four or more workers, to each of whom the required amount of wages was paid. This clearly means that the employment need not be simultaneous. Obviously, the word 'in' does not mean 'throughout' or 'for the entire period of,' because then there would be no point in adding the requirement of the payment of a minimum of $50 in wages. In these times, no worker employed for a full calendar quarter would be paid less than $50 in wages. The appellant seeks to read into the statute the words 'at the same time,' following the words 'had in covered employment'. There is no justification for this, unless the word 'in' means 'during any one period of time in.' We are not aware of any authority for ascribing such a meaning to the word 'in'.
5. Functional limits solve. Cap K, Courts CP, States CP, and the Politics DA all solve their offense.
6. Reasonability. Good is good enough. Using “any risk” of offense is unfair to the aff and creates an incentive to craft arbitrary T violations to win more debates.
C/I---“In”---Precision---1AR
“In” means “some portion of.”
Judge C. Lynwood Smith 10. United States District Judge. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA NORTHEASTERN DIVISION ABBOTT POINT OF CARE, INC., Plaintiff, vs. EPOCAL, INC., Defendant. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-alnd-5_08-cv-00543/pdf/USCOURTS-alnd-5_08-cv-00543-2.pdf
In addition, three of the many definitions of the word “in” found in contemporaneous general dictionaries include the following: “1. a. Within the bounds or area of . . . b. From the outside to a point within * * * 2. To or toward a destination or goal . . . .” Webster’s II New College Dictionary 557 (Houghton Mifflin Co. 2001, 1999, 1995); see also Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary 616 (Houghton Mifflin 1994) (same). Thus, as the Special Master noted, but only in passing: “The word ‘in’ does not require that something be completely and continuously inside of something else.” Doc. no. 96 (Special Master’s Final Report and Recommendation), at 92 n.57 (emphasissupplied). Instead, it is common to use the word to state that something is contiguous to something else, such as saying that a skylight is “in” the room to which it opens and provides natural illumination.
Accordingly, the construction adopted by this court for the phrases “positioned in a conduit” and “positioned in said conduit,” as each is used in Claim 1 of the gas patents, is: a gas equilibration reservoir positioned with respect to the conduit so as to allow contact between at least some portion of the reservoir (or with the reservoir’s gas-permeable membrane, if one is employed) and at least some portion of the aqueous calibrant fluid within the conduit, such that there can be contact between the fluid in the conduit and the equilibration reservoir to allow for gas exchange to occur when the fluid is brought into contact with or exposed to the reservoir.
It's comparatively pre

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