Dennis Karjala


Dennis S. Karjala was an intellectual property law professor at Arizona State University. His major interests in teaching and research were primarily in the area of intellectual property, specifically in copyright and its applications in digital technologies. His work in the field of intellectual property was internationally recognized and complemented by his ease in speaking and writing in Japanese.
Karjala, who began working at Arizona State University in 1978, taught international copyright and intellectual property in cyberspace. However, for a long time he worked and wrote articles in the areas of security, corporate rights, federal taxation and business planning.
He was a visiting professor at numerous universities including the University of Minnesota and UCLA leading classes in the areas of security and copyright. He also worked as a lawyer early in his career at McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen in California.

Karjala on copyright

Karjala has been very involved with causes related to the laws of copyright and is cited in several cases related to this subject.
In 1992, he was involved with the Sega v. Accolade case, in which Sega was suing Accolade with allegations of infringement of copyrights, trademarks, and unfair competition.

Copyright extension

Karjala has written and testified regarding copyright term extension, first with the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act. He testified in front of the Judiciary Committee, arguing that the proposal would generate great costs to the general public without bringing any benefit. In addition, Karjala also wrote several letters directed to members of Congress, arguing that the proposed extension would not benefit the public. However, despite these efforts, the law was passed.
Karjala owns a website called "Opposing Copyright Extension" where he talks about the CTEA, expresses his opinion on the subject and disseminates materials on the law and copyright terms policies. On the website itself, he mentions that it was created in the hope that when this topic comes up again, those who seek to defend the public interest have more ammunition for it. Karjala also thanks Harvard University professor Lawrence Lessig for his dedicated efforts. According to Karjala, Lessig provided an immeasurable amount of his time, money and talent in favor of the cause and that, no matter how they did not succeed, the struggle was important to present the problem to the public.
In 2013, Karjala was quoted in the Washington Post in a story about the extension of copyright, discussing the CTEA, and the possible extension of extension of the copyrights protection of several classics, including Mickey Mouse and even Superman, for another 20 years. Referring to the CTEA, Karjala said that "there was not a single argument that could be maintained after any kind of reasonable analysis." In another citation of the article, he mentions that the people who support the law are precisely those who would benefit directly if it were approved, i.e., copyrights of old works that were about to expire.
In 2015, the Los Angeles Times reviewed the copyright problems with The Diary of Anne Frank, which is still under copyright. Karjala, quoted, said there is nothing that would make a 95-year copyright term an incentive for anyone to create anything and that the law is not meant to influence artistic expression.

Personal life

He was married to Katarina Karjala and has three children. Karjala was fluent in Japanese, and also familiar with German, French and Slovak.

Education

Before entering the field of intellectual property, Karjala studied electrical engineering.
He has worked in several universities as a visiting professor and often takes sabbatical years to devote himself to his research. It follows a little of his career over the years:
Karjala has an extensive list of scholarly articles on his curriculum. In addition, he has published some books, including some in Japanese.

Books