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The United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement and the Copyright Term Extension
A SUBMISSION TO THE SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND THE UNITED STATES THE UNITED STATES-AUSTRALIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT AND THE COPYRIGHT TERM EXTENSION DR MATTHEW RIMMER LECTURER FACULTY OF LAW THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Faculty Of Law, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200 Work Telephone Number: (02) 61254164 E-Mail Address: [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface 3 Executive Summary 4 Part 1 An Act For The Encouragement of Learning 8 Part 2 Free Mickey: The Copyright Term and The Public Domain 12 Part 3 A Gift To IP Producers: The Copyright Term and Competition Policy 27 Part 4 Emerging Standards: The Copyright Term and International Trade 36 Part 5 Robbery Under Arms: The Copyright Term And Cultural Heritage 43 Conclusion 58 Appendix 1: Comparison Of Copyright Duration: United States, European Union, and Australia 62 2 "There is a whole constituency out there with a strong view against copyright term extension and we are arguing that case." Mark Vaile, Minister for Trade (December 2003) "Extending our copyright term by 20 years doesn’t really protect our authors, yet it still taxes our readers." Professor Andrew Christie, Director, Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, the University of Melbourne "Perpetual Copyright On An Instalment Plan" Professor Peter Jaszi, Washington University "A Piracy Of The Public Domain" Professor Lawrence Lessig, Stanford University "A Gift To Intellectual Property Producers" Henry Ergas "Intellectual Purgatory" Justice Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court of the United States "A No-Brainer" Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate in Economics "Actually, Sonny [Bono] wanted the term of copyright protection to last forever." Mary Bono 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY • The first modern copyright legislation - the Statute of Anne - was an "Act for the encouragement of learning". -
Circular 1 Copyright Basics
CIRCULAR 1 Copyright Basics Copyright is a form of protection Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the provided by U.S. law to authors of United States to the authors of “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. An original “original works of authorship” from work of authorship is a work that is independently created by the time the works are created in a a human author and possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity. A work is “fixed” when it is captured (either fixed form. This circular provides an by or under the authority of an author) in a sufficiently overview of basic facts about copyright permanent medium such that the work can be perceived, and copyright registration with the reproduced, or communicated for more than a short time. Copyright protection in the United States exists automatically U.S. Copyright Office. It covers from the moment the original work of authorship is fixed.1 • Works eligible for protection • Rights of copyright owners What Works Are Protected? • Who can claim copyright • Duration of copyright Examples of copyrightable works include • Literary works • Musical works, including any accompanying words • Dramatic works, including any accompanying music • Pantomimes and choreographic works • Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works • Motion pictures and other audiovisual works • Sound recordings, which are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds • Architectural works These categories should be viewed broadly for the purpose of registering your work. For example, computer programs and certain “compilations” can be registered as “literary works”; maps and technical drawings can be registered as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.” w copyright.gov note: Before 1978, federal copyright was generally secured by publishing a work with an appro- priate copyright notice. -
An Introduction to Copyright for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
For more information contact the: World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) 34, Chemin des Colombettes P.O Box 18 creative CH-1211 Geneva 20 Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 338 87 60 Email: [email protected] Web page: http://www.wipo.int/sme expressionS Intellectual Property for Business Series 4 | 4 Copies of all publications in this series are available from: An Introduction to The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Copyright for Small Postal Address: and Medium-sized Private Bag x400 Pretoria Enterprises 0001 Physical Address: The dti Campus 77 Meintjies Street Sunnyside, Pretoria Web page: www.thedti.gov.za Call Centre: 0861 843 384 Email: [email protected] creative expressionS An Introduction to Copyright for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Intellectual Property for Business Series 4 | 4 PUBLICATIONS IN THE “INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY FOR BUSINEss” serieS: 1. Making a Mark: An Introduction to Trade marks for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. 2. Looking Good: An Introduction to Aesthetic Designs for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. 3. Inventing the Future: An Introduction to Patents and Functional Designs for Small and Medium- sized Enterprises. 4. Creative Expressions: An Introduction to Copyright for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. All publications in the series are available from the Department of Trade and Industry at: [email protected] 2 PREFACE This is the fourth in a series of guides developed under the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Developement Agenda project to assist small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to navigate and optimally utilise the South African intellectual property right system. The guide provides a user friendly overview and explanation of South African copyright law. -
Case 1:16-Cv-02725-DLC Document 87 Filed 09/08/17 Page 1 of 66
Case 1:16-cv-02725-DLC Document 87 Filed 09/08/17 Page 1 of 66 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK -------------------------------------- X : WE SHALL OVERCOME FOUNDATION and : 16cv2725(DLC) BUTLER FILMS, LLC, on behalf of : themselves and all others similarly : OPINION AND ORDER situated, : : Plaintiffs, : : -v- : : THE RICHMOND ORGANIZATION, INC. (TRO : INC.) and LUDLOW MUSIC, INC., : : Defendants. : : -------------------------------------- X APPEARANCES: For the Plaintiffs: Mark C. Rifkin Randall S. Newman Gloria K. Melwani Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP 270 Madison Ave, 10th Floor New York, NY 10016 For the Defendants: Paul LiCalsi Ofer Reger Robins Kaplan LLC 601 Lexington Ave, Suite 3400 New York, NY 10022 DENISE COTE, District Judge: The defendants The Richmond Organization, Inc. (“TRO”) and its subsidiary and imprint Ludlow Music, Inc. (“Ludlow”) (collectively, the “Defendants”) possess two copyrights in the musical composition “We Shall Overcome” (the “Song” or the Case 1:16-cv-02725-DLC Document 87 Filed 09/08/17 Page 2 of 66 “Copyrighted Song”), registered as a derivative work with the Copyright Office in 1960 and 1963. In this litigation, the plaintiffs We Shall Overcome Foundation (“WSOF”) and Butler Films, LLC (“Butler”) (collectively, the “Plaintiffs”) challenge through a putative class action the validity of the Defendants’ copyrights in the Song. The Plaintiffs have filed a motion for partial summary judgment in which they principally argue that the lyrics and melody in the first verse and its identical fifth verse (“Verse 1/5”) of the Song are not sufficiently original to qualify for copyright registration as a derivative work.1 For the reasons that follow, that portion of the Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is granted. -
The Role of the Register of Copyrights in the Registration Process: a Critical Appraisal of Certain Exclusionary Regulations *
[Vol.116 COMMENT THE ROLE OF THE REGISTER OF COPYRIGHTS IN THE REGISTRATION PROCESS: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF CERTAIN EXCLUSIONARY REGULATIONS * Under the Copyright Act,' the only action required in order to obtain a valid statutory copyright in a published work is publication with the prescribed notice.' In order to perfect the rights accruing under his copyright, however, the claimant must also "promptly" de- posit two copies of the best edition of the copyrighted work, together with a claim of copyright, in the Copyright Office. 3 Fulfillment of this requirement of registration and deposit is a condition precedent to any action for copyright infringement, but the copyright itself ordi- narily remains valid pending fulfillment.4 Thus, although most claimants register their works as a matter of course, registration may be deferred, without loss of any rights, until the eve of suit. Unfortunately for some copyright claimants, however, the re- quirement of registration cannot be satisfied by the claimant's acts alone: recent cases also require that the Register of Copyrights actually issue a certificate of registration before infringement proceedings can be brought.5 To the extent that the Register has any discretion to * This Comment has been entered in the 1968 Nathan Burkan Memorial Compe- tition. ' 17 U.S.C. §§ 1-215 (1964). 2 Washingtonian Publishing Co. v. Pearson, 306 U.S. 30 (1939) ; United States v. Backer, 134 F.2d 533 (2d Cir. 1943). 17 U.S.C. § 10 (1964), provides: Any person entitled thereto by this title may secure copyright for his work by publication thereof with the notice of copyright required by this title; and such notice shall be affixed to each copy thereof published or offered for sale in the United States by authority of the copyright proprietor, except in the case of books seeking ad interim protection under section 22 of this title. -
Reform(Aliz)Ing Copyright
SPRIGMAN FINAL 12/17/2004 3:36 PM REFORM(ALIZ)ING COPYRIGHT Christopher Sprigman* INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 486 I. THE TRADITIONAL CONTOURS OF “CONDITIONAL” COPYRIGHT ....................... 491 A. Formalities in the Early Copyright Statutes ................................................ 491 B. From Conditional to Unconditional Copyright ........................................... 494 1. Voluntary registration and notice............................................................. 494 2. Renewal .................................................................................................... 498 II. FORMALITIES AND THE “TRADITIONAL CONTOURS” OF CONDITIONAL COPYRIGHT .............................................................................................................................. 500 A. Recording Ownership.................................................................................. 500 1. “Signaling” .............................................................................................. 501 2. Maximizing private incentives .................................................................. 501 B. Formalities as a Copyright “Filter”............................................................ 502 1. Registration and notice............................................................................. 502 2. Renewal .................................................................................................... 519 3. Effect -
Harmonizing Copyright's Internationalization With
HARMONIZING COPYRIGHT’S INTERNATIONALIZATION WITH DOMESTIC CONSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS A quick glance through recent copyright legislation suggests that we are in the midst of a “second enclosure movement,” this time fenc- ing off the “intangible commons of the mind” instead of the physical commons of the land.1 In 1992 the Copyright Renewal Act2 (CRA) abolished the longstanding renewal requirement for nearly all works; in 1998 the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act3 (CTEA) ex- tended the term of copyright protection by twenty years and the Digi- tal Millennium Copyright Act4 (DMCA) heightened penalties for copy- right infringement on the Internet and provided copyright owners with an increased ability to control access to their copyrighted digital me- dia. These are simply a few examples drawn from the larger set of copyright legislation enacted within the past two decades, a set that taken as a whole provides worrisome evidence of a one-way ratcheting up of copyright protection. No surprise, then, that there is widespread feeling among many copyright scholars that Congress has unabashedly ceded to the lobby- ing pressures of the copyright industries and steadily cut into the heart of the public domain.5 Scholars have unleashed a flurry of articles in the past decade warning about the public harms of copyright exten- sions and, cognizant of the skewed political economy, calling for meas- ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1 James Boyle, The Second Enclosure Movement and the Construction of the Public Domain, LAW & CONTEMP. PROBS., Winter/Spring 2003, at 33, 37 (internal quotation mark omitted). 2 Pub. L. No. 102-307, 106 Stat. 264 (1992). -
On the Three-Step Test
First WIPO Interregional Meeting on South -South Cooperation on Intellectual Property (IP) Governance; Genetic Resources, Tradit ional Knowledge and Folklore (GRTKF) and Copyright and Related Rights jointly organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Government of Brazil Brasilia, August 8 to 10, 2012 Copyright, b alancing of interests , and developing countries Dr. Mihály Ficsor, Chairman, Central and Eastern European Copyright Alliance (CCECA) former Assistant Director General of WIPO I. RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL NORMS M. Ficsor, Brasilia, August 8-10, 2012 2 Three „layers” – and a half – of the international copyright and related rights norms First „layer”: Berne Convention orginially adopted in 1886, regularly revised ; for the last time in 1971 (administered by WIPO) and the Rome Convention adopted in 1961 (jointly administered by WIPO, UNESCO and ILO). Second „layer”: TRIPS Agreement adopted in 1994 (administered by WTO). Third „layer”: WIPO „Internet Treaties”: the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) adopted in 1996 and the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performences (BTAP) adopted in June 2012 The half layer: „guided development period” (1975 to 1988) M. Ficsor, Brasilia, August 8-10, 2012 3 Berne Convention (1) Specific exceptions and limitations: Access to information : free use official texts of a legislative, administrative and legal nature (Art. 2(4)), political speeches and speeches delivered in legal proceedings (Art. 2 bis (1)), and – for informatory purposes – lectures and addresses delivered in public; free re-use of articles and broadcast works on current economic, political or religious topics (Art. 10 bis (1)) and (Art.10 bis (2)). Freedom of speech, research and criticism : free quotation (Art. -
The WIPO Internet Treaties
WORLD General INTELLECTUAL In December 1996, two new treaties were PROPERTY concluded at the World Intellectual Property ORGANIZATION Organization (WIPO): the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT). Together, these WIPO is committed to working towards the treaties represent a milestone in modernizing the broadest possible adherence to the treaties international system of copyright and related around the world in order to safeguard global rights, ushering that system into the digital age. protection for creativity. This project is a key item on the WIPO Digital Agenda, approved by the Background Member States in September 1999. The WIPO Copyright law provides protection for literary and Informationwww.wipo.int on the current situation regarding the Internet artistic works, giving their creators the ability WCT and the WPPT is available on our website at to control certain uses of their works. The law of <http://www.wipo.int/treaties/ip/index.html>. related rights (that is, rights related to copyright) Treaties provides similar protection for the creative For more information contact the contributions of parties involved in presenting World Intellectual Property Organization at: works to the public, such as performers, Address: Telephone: phonogram producers, and broadcasters. 34, chemin des Colombettes +41 22 338 91 11 Copyright and related rights are provided by P.O. Box 18 Fax: CH-1211 Geneva 20 +41 22 733 54 28 national laws in individual countries. International Switzerland E-mail: treaties link the various national laws by ensuring [email protected] that at least a minimum level of rights will be or its New York Coordination Office at: www.wipo.int granted to creators under each national law. -
The Challenges of Copyright in the EU
Briefing June 2015 The challenges of copyright in the EU SUMMARY Despite over a century of international harmonisation, copyright law remains essentially national law, even though some fundamental copyright norms are gradually converging. Today, copyright is regulated at international level mainly through the Bern Convention, the Universal Copyright Convention, and a series of other treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization. At present, national copyright laws are grounded in a handful of universal rules and principles. Exclusive rights are granted to creators for 'original' works which range from art (music, paintings) to information products (maps, databases). The rights conceded under copyright vary with national laws and legal traditions (civil law in continental Europe and common law in Anglo-American countries). However, as a minimum, exclusive rights encompass the rights to reproduce, distribute, rent, lend, or communicate a work to the public. All these rights can be transferred and/or collectively managed by specialist intermediaries (notably for music works). Most national laws also grant moral rights to protect the author's name and reputation. Other provisions – such as the term of copyright protection – differ widely on a global scale. To maintain a fair balance between the interests of users and rights-holders, legislators have foreseen a number of exceptions, allowing for limited free use of certain works. The main European Union instrument providing a legal framework for copyright is the 2001 Copyright Directive. In May 2015, the European Commission unveiled its plans to create a Digital Single Market, aiming in this respect to present legislative proposals reducing the differences between national copyright regimes and allowing for wider online access, including through further harmonisation measures. -
The Integration of Copyright and Employment Law
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal Volume 20 Volume XX Number 1 Volume XX Book 1 Article 2 2009 Who Owns Bratz? The Integration of Copyright and Employment Law Michael D. Birnhack Tel-Aviv University Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj Part of the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons, and the Intellectual Property Law Commons Recommended Citation Michael D. Birnhack, Who Owns Bratz? The Integration of Copyright and Employment Law, 20 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 95 (2009). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj/vol20/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal by an authorized editor of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Who Owns Bratz? The Integration of Copyright and Employment Law Cover Page Footnote Thanks to Maurizio Borghi, Hanoch Dagan, Guy Davidov, Niva Elkin-Koren, Edo Eshet, Orit Fischman Afori, Oren Gazal-Ayal, Assaf Jacob, Ariel Katz, Wen Li, Orly Lobel, Guy Mundlak, Karl-Nikolaus Peifer, Guy Pessach, Alessandra Rossi, and participants at the Third Workshop on the Law and Economics of Intellectual Property at Queen Mary University of London (July 2007), the annual congress of the Society for Economic Research on Copyright Issues (SERCI) in Berlin (July 2007), the 4-Sided Workshop on Law & Economics (Rome, 2009) and the 9th Intellectual Property Scholars Conference at Cardozo Law School (August 2009), especially Pamela Samuelson and Rebecca Tushnet, for helpful comments and to Dorit Garfunkel, Nir Servatka and Barak Tevet for able research assistance. -
Work for Hire: Revision on the Horizon
*21 Copyright 1989 by the PTC Research Foundation of the Franklin Pierce Law Center IDEA: The Journal of Law and Technology 1989 WORK FOR HIRE: REVISION ON THE HORIZON Michael Carter Smith [n.a] INTRODUCTION The Copyright Act of 1976 ('76 Act) [n.1] became effective a decade ago. [n.2] The '76 Act contained new and controversial "work for hire" provisions. [n.3] As thousands of employment agreements involve work for hire, [n.4] the ramifications of this perplexing doctrine are worthy of consideration. The work for hire provisions of the '76 Act [n.5] represent a deliberate attempt by Congress to apportion copyright entitlements in such a way as to appease both ''employers/buyers" and "employees/sellers" of copyrightable works. [n.6] The compromise embodied in the doctrine has proven to be highly problematic: "employers/buyers," "employees/sellers" and the courts have been vexed by the doctrine's vague language. [n.7] The confusion generated by the work for hire provisions of the '76 Act has gone largely unheeded by Congress. However, Senator Cochran (R-Miss.), the Ralph Nader of the work for hire doctrine, has proposed numerous work for hire amendments. [n.8] Despite the support of the 100,000 member *22 Copyright Justice Coalition, Mr. Cochran's proposed amendments have failed to garner allies in the Senate. Whatever the reason for his lack of success, the contradictory judicial interpretations of the doctrine necessitate a congressional remedy. In this paper I will attempt to provoke congressional reconsideration of the work for hire doctrine. First, I will present the doctrine and its underlying policy considerations.