Real World Research: Copyright

February 21, 2007Dean C. RowanReference Librarian

New Uses, New Industries

“[F]ar-reaching changes have occurred in the techniques and methods of reproducing and disseminating the various categories of literary, musical, dramatic, artistic, and other works that are the subject matter of copyright; new uses of such works and new industries for their dissemination have grown up; and the organization of the groups and industries that produce or utilize such works has undergone great changes. For some time there has been widespread sentiment that the present copyright law should be reexamined comprehensively with a view to its general revision in the light of present-day conditions.”

Mais, plus ça change…

-- “Foreword,” Copyright Law Revision: Studies Prepared for the Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights of the Committee on the Judiciary (United States Senate Committee Print) (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1960) iii.

Building Your Library [1]

Nimmer on Copyright: A Treatise on the Law of Literary, Musical and Artistic Property, and the Protection of Ideas Patron Services: KF2994 .N54 Lexis 4 v. analysis, 2 v. forms, 5 v. appendices

Patry on Copyright Patron Services: KF2991.5 .P38 Westlaw: PATRYCOPY

Building Your Library [2]

Goldstein on Copyright Patron Services: KF2994 .G642

Copyright Law Reporter Commerce Clearing House Patron Services: KF2991.5 .C67

Specialized Legal Research Reference KF240 .S641 Copyright chapter

Westlaw & LexisNexis

Westlaw: All Databases > Topical Materials by Area of Practice > Intellectual Property > Forms, Treatises, CLEs and Other Practice Material

Copyright Law: A Practitioner's Guide Database Identifier: PLIREF-CPYT Also in LexisNexis.

Internet Law and Practice Chapter 12, “Copyright: Foundations and Practice” Database Identifier: INTERNET

Lexis: Legal > Area of Law - By Topic > Copyright Law . . . Treatises & Analytical Materials (inc. Nimmer on

Copyright)

Legislative Histories [1]

Legislative history of the 1909 Copyright Act / edited and compiled by E. Fulton Brylawski and Abe Goldman Stacks: KF2989.54 .A15 1976 HeinOnline: http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Index?

index=leghis/lhcav&collection=leghis

Legislative Histories [2]

The Kaminstein Legislative History Project: A Compendium and Analytical Index of Materials Leading to the Copyright Act of 1976 / Alan Latman and James F. Lightstone, editors Stacks: KF2989.52.A16 K35 HeinOnline: http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Index?

index=leghis/kamlhp&collection=leghis

Legislative Histories [3]

Omnibus Copyright Revision Legislative History / George S. Grossman Stacks: KF2989.55 .A15 2001 “[r]eprint of various Congressional hearings and

reports relating to the copyright law revision, 1960-1976.”

HeinOnline: http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Index?index=leghis/ocrlh&collection=leghis

Legislative Histories [4]

Federal Copyright Law: The Legislative Histories of the Major Enactments of the 105th Congress / by William H. Manz Stacks: KF2988.8 1999 No Electronic Theft (NET) Act Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) HeinOnline: http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Index?

index=leghis/fcl&collection=leghis

Resources on the Web,Free for the Taking [1]

Jonathan Franklin, Research in Copyright Law (Marian Gould Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington School of Law) http://lib.law.washington.edu/ref/copylaw.htm

(last updated November 29, 2006)

Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (SULAIR), Copyright & Fair Use http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

Resources on the Web,Free for the Taking [2]

Stefanie Weigmann, Update to Researching Intellectual Property Law in an International Context (LLRX.com) http://www.llrx.com/features/iplaw2.htm (last updated

February 8, 2001)

United States Copyright Office Law and Policy: http://www.copyright.gov/laws/ RSS Feeds: http://www.copyright.gov/help/rss.html Information Circulars and Factsheets:

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/ Search Copyright Records: Registrations and Documents

: http://www.copyright.gov/records/

Legislative History in the Real World [1]

The statutory origins of “work made for hire” 17 U.S.C.A § 101 (“Definitions”): “A ‘work made for hire’

is--(1) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or(2) a work specially ordered or commissioned…”

“Most people begin and end with the 1976 House report.”

--William Patry See the index to the Brylawski and Goldman legislative

history of the 1909 Act.

Legislative History in the Real World [2]

The statutory origins of “work made for hire” See also Patry’s discussion of Nimmer’s perpetuation of

“instance and expense” language dropped from the 1909 Act (§ 5:45 of Patry on Copyright).

Note that the Kaminstein Project legislative history of the 1976 Act leaves out § 101.

Orphan Works in the Real World [1]

“How do I know whether a work is in copyright? How do I figure out if it was published, if it was a work of the U.S.

government, who is the owner, etc.?” Rebecca Tushnet, Professor, Georgetown University Law

Center Orphan works are “copyrighted works whose owners

may be impossible to identify and locate.” U.S. Copyright Office, Orphan Works.

Orphan Works in the Real World [2]

Peter B. Hirtle, Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States, 1 January 2007 http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/

Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm

United States Copyright Office Orphan Works

http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/ How to Investigate the Copyright Status of a Work

(Circular 22): http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ22.html

Staying Current [1]

United States Copyright Office RSS Feeds: http://www.copyright.gov/help/rss.html

Web Logs The Patry Copyright Blog: http://williampatry.blogspot.com/ The Patry Treatise Blog:

http://www.patrytreatise.blogspot.com/ Derek Slater’s A Copyfighter’s Musings:

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cmusings/ Lawrence Lessig’s lessig blog:

http://www.lessig.org/blog/ Info/Law: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/

Staying Current [2]

Bureau of National Affairs Electronic Commerce & Law Report:

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/EIP.NSF/highlights/highlights Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal:

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/PTC.NSF/highlights/highlights World Intellectual Property Report:

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/WIPR.NSF/highlights/highlights Expensive…but a subscription to BNA’s Internet Law News

is free: http://ecommercecenter.bna.com/

International Copyright World: Hard copy, expensive UNESCO Copyright Bulletin