Chapter 13: Copyright Flashcards
Patent and Copyright Clause
Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8
“congress shall have the power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to there respective writings and discoveries”
Works not Eligible for Copyright Protection
- not fixed in a tangible form
- titles, names, short phrases → trademark
- ideas, methods, devices → patent
- works without original authorship
Feist Publications v. Rural Phone Services
Facts: Feist took names and phone numbers from Rural’s local phone book and published them in their larger phone book. Rural sued using the “sweat off the brow” argument.
Decision: SCOTUS sides with Feist because Rural’s phonebook contained no original authorship
Significance: copyright protects originality, not hard work
Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act
- Extends the copyright for new works to the life of the author plus 70 years
- Extends the copyright for corporate authors to 95 years
- extends the term for works created prior to 1978 by 20 years
Eldred v. Ashcroft
Facts: Eldred, a publisher of public domain works, challenges the legitimacy of the Sonny Bono Act. He argues (1) that retroactive extensions violate the copyright clause and (2) that it violates his first amendment speech rights
Decision: SCOTUS uphold the constitutionality of the Act
Significance: (1) affirms the right of congress to make establish copyright laws (2) RBG argues that copyright is the ENGINE that drives free expression
Fair Use Doctrine
Found in the Copyright Act of 1976
Four factors should be considered:
1. Purpose and character of the use
2. Nature of the work
3. Amount and substantiality
4. Market and value effect
Sony Corporation v. Universal City Studios
Facts: Universal City studios sued Sony for contributory copyright infringement over the sale of Sony’s Betamax recording machine.
Decision: SCOTUS sides with Sony
1. The Betamax was widely used for “legitimate and unobjectionable purposes” → time shifting (Sony)
2. Original works were copied (Universal)
3. The entire works were copied (Universal)
4. was negligible impact on the market (Sony)
Significance: example of a fair use
Harper & Row Publishers v. Nation Enterprises
Facts: Time magazine backs out of a promotional contract after the Nation publishes leaked excerpts from President Ford’s memoir. Harper & Row sue.
Decision: SCOTUS sides with Harper & Row
1. The Nation was motivated by profit (HR)
2. Factual information → less protection (Nation)
3. The “heart of the book” was published (HR)
4. CLEAR evidence of reduced profit (HR)
Significance: example of a non-fair use
Salinger v. Random House
Facts: JD Salinger copyrights his personal correspondences and refuses to let a biographer use them for his book.
Decision: the circuit Court sides with Salinger
1. Criticism, scholarship, research (RH)
2. letters were highly original works (Salinger)
3. 40% of the book was quotes (Salinger)
4. negative impact on a potential future market (Salinger)
Significance: Example of a non-fair use
Basic Books v. Kinko’s Graphics
Facts: Basic Books sues Kinko’s Graphics for creating course packs
Decision: SCOTUS sides with Basic Books
1. copied for profit (BB)
2. factual works (KG)
3. includes the most critical parts of books (BB)
4. caused publishers to sell fewer textbooks (BB)
Significance: Example of a non-fair use
Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music
Facts: Luther Campbell, a member of 2 Live Crew parody “Pretty Woman” without permission from Acuff-Rose
Decision: SCOTUS sides with Campbell because (1) the parody had “transformative value” and (2) it did not compete with the original in the market
Significance: Establishes the transformative use test
Leibovitz v. Paramount Pictures
Facts: Leibovitz sues Paramount Pictures for creating a spoof of her famous Demi Moore photograph to promote their new movie
Decision: A circuit court rules that the spoof had transformative value
Significance: The transformative use test is used to protect a parodied photograph
Suntrust Bank v. Houghton Mifflin
Facts: Suntrust Bank sues the publisher of “The Wind Done Gone”, a parody of “Gone with the Wind”
Decision: A circuit court rules that the parody had tranformative value
Significance: the transformative value test is used to protect a parodied book
Baker v. Selden
Facts: Selden and Baker both published books about a doubly entry system for accounting. Selden’s widow sues Baker for copyright infringement.
Decision: SCOTUS sides with Baker arguing that he could copyright his explanation of the system but not the system itself
Significance: The idea-expression dichotomy protects the first amendment speech rights of authors
Hoehling v. Universal City Studios
Facts: Hoehling sues Universal for creating a movie about a German soldier who sabotages of the Hindenburg, a theory that Hoehling had put forth in his book
Decision: SCOTUS sides with Universal arguing that a historical theory cannot be protected by copyright
Significance: the idea-protection dichotomy protects the first amendment speech rights of film makers
