Donna L. Ferullo, J.D.
Director, Copyright Office,
Purdue University
Recent Copyright Cases
Not too much new legislation. Here some key legislative efforts coming forward however.
Note these:
--Fair Copyright in Research Works Act, H.R. 801
--Higher Education Opportunity Act
--Orphan Works
Extending length of copyright still an issue
Cases
1. Cambridge University press et al v. Patton et al (Goeroge State) fair use case
2. Author's Guild et al v. Google, Inc.
2.1 scanning books--publishers sued; finally publishers and Google drafted a settlement; have till 05 May 2009 to opt out; June 2009 will be judge's decision; books that are still in copyright, but out of print;
3. Warner Bros. v. RDR Books (Harry Potter lexicon); court agreed with J. K. Rowling, author, lexicon was infringement; a fair use case
4. Siegel v. Warner Bros. (Superman); court agreed with plaintiffs--a "reversion of rights" case; original creators got rights back because
Obama image issue "Fairey and the AP"
1. Fairey's famous image based on AP photograph
2. argument is that it's "transformative" use
3. variant Patrick Corrigan, The Toronto Star "Hope" looks like Fairey's image
Questions and Discussion--
Dwayne Buttler: there's a difference between a "copy" and a "substitute" use; example "thumbnail" use on Internet; a tiny reproduction, literally a copy, but not a substitute use
Discussion--"underlying use" depends on facts of the case or situation; (Buttler) change of use is the "elegance of the fair use doctrine"
Posted by Jay Gillette at April 15, 2009 10:47 AM