Robert C. Denicola

Margaret R. Larson Professor of Intellectual Property Law Emeritus

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Professor Rob Denicola

Biography

Professor Denicola joined the Law College faculty in 1976. He received a B.S.E. degree from Princeton University in 197l and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1974. He also received an LL.M. degree from Harvard in 1976. Professor Denicola worked with a Boston law firm before coming to Nebraska. He has also been a visiting professor at Cornell University and the University of Alabama, and was Acting Dean of the Law College from 1994-96. Professor Denicola teaches courses in Contracts, Copyright, and Unfair Competition. He has written a casebook on copyright law published by Foundation Press and was the Co-Reporter for the American Law Institute's Restatement of the Law of Unfair Competition.

Courses

  • Contracts I Law 501/G (3 cr hr each semester)
    The basic principles governing the creation, interpretation and enforcement of private agreements.

  • Contracts II Law 502/G (3-6 cr hr, max of 6)
    For course description, see LAW 501G.

  • Copyright Law Law 711/G (3 cr hr)
    A course on the protection of literary, musical, artistic, and audiovisual works under the laws of Copyright and Unfair Competition. Topics include the standards for copyright protection; procedural issues including copyright notice, registration, and duration; rules governing copyright infringement and fair use; and issues arising from digital technologies, including the distribution of copyrighted works over the Internet and the use of technological measures to protect copyrighted works.

  • Unfair Competition Law 645/G (3 cr hr)
    A study of the federal and state statutes and common law doctrines restricting unfair methods of competition in business. Topics include false advertising, trademark law, misappropriation, trade secret law and the right of publicity.

Articles

  • Imagining Things: Copyright for Useful Articles after Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands,  79 University of Pittsburgh Law Review 635 (2018)

  • Ex Machina: Copyright Protection for Computer-Generated Works,  69 Rutgers University Law Review 251 (2016)

  • Volition and Copyright Infringement,  37 Cardozo Law Review 1259 (2016)

  • The New Law of Ideas,  28 Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 195 (2014)

  • News on the Internet,  23 Fordham Intell. Prop., Media and Entertainment Law Journal 101 (2013)

  • The Restatements, the Uniform Act, and the Status of American Trade Secret Law, in The Law and Theory of Trade Secrecy,  Edward Elgar Press, UK (2010)

  • Access Controls, Rights Protection, and Circumvention: Interpreting the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to Preserve Noninfringing Use,  31 Columbia J. of Law and Arts 209 (2008)

  • Copyright and Open Access: Reconsidering University Ownership of Faculty Research,  85 Nebraska Law Review 351 (2006)

  • Fair's Fair: An Argument for Mandatory Disclosure of Technological Protection Measures,  11 Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review 1 (2004)

  • Mostly Dead? Copyright Law in the New Millennium,  47 Journal of the Copyright Society 193 (2000)

  • Freedom to Copy,  108 Yale Law Journal 1661 (1999)

  • Some Thoughts on the Dynamics of Federal Trademark Legislation and the Trademark Dilution Act of 1995,  59 Law and Contemporary Problems 75 (1997)

  • Foreword to the Symposium on the Restatement of Unfair Competition,  47 South Carolina Law Review i (1996)

  • Institutional Publicity Rights: An Analysis of the Merchandising of Famous Trade Symbols,  62 North Carolina Law Review 603 (1984)

  • Applied Art and Industrial Design: A Suggested Approach to Copyright in Useful Articles,  67 Minnesota Law Review 707 (1983)

  • Trademarks as Speech: Constitutional Implications of the Emerging Rationales for the Protection of Trade Symbols,  1982 Wisconsin Law Review 158 (1982)

  • Copyright in Collections of Fact: A Theory for the Protection of Nonfiction Literary Works,  81 Columbia Law Review 516 (1981)

  • Copyright and Free Speech: Constitutional Limitations on the Protection of Expression,  67 California Law Review 283 (1979)

  • The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act: Making Consumer Product Warranty a Federal Case,  44 Fordham Law Review 273 (1975)

Books

  • Restatement of the Law (Third), Unfair Competition,(with H. Perlman), American Law Institute (1995)

  • Copyright, Unfair Competition, and Related Topics,Foundation Press (1985, 1990, 1995, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017)

  • Supplements to Copyright, Unfair Competition, and Related Topics,Foundation Press

Other
  • Date: Thursday, September 15, 2022
Awards

  • John H. Binning Award for Excellence,  2017

  • The International Trademark Association's Ladas Prize  

  • University of Nebraska Distinguished Teaching Award,  1980

  • Alumni Council Distinguished Faculty Award,  2002 (Inaugural Recipient)

  • College of Law Professor of the Year Award,  Multiple Years

Other

  • Co-author of the American Law Institute's "Restatement of Unfair Competition"  with Chancellor Harvey Perlman

  • Casebook on Copyright published by Foundation Press is now in its 12th edition  

Education

  • L.L.M., magna cum laude, 1976, Harvard University
  • J.D., magna cum laude, 1974, Harvard University
  • B.S.E., magna cum laude, 1971, Princeton University

Areas of Expertise

Appointments

  • Cline Williams Research Chair, 2004-05
  • Acting Dean, 1994-1996
  • Margaret R. Larson Professor of Intellectual Property, 1988
  • Professor of Law 1982
  • Associate Professor of Law, 1979
  • Assistant Professor of Law, 1976
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