Justice O’Connor, in Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises (1985), called copyright “the engine of free expression.” This was not a novel idea. The Justice was merely summarizing a well-established relationship between an author’s copyrights and the freedom to express herself as she wishes. Freedom in artistic expression requires that the author have a degree of personal economic liberty, which ...
On June 7 and 8, the membership of the American Law Institute will vote on several sections of the Restatement of Copyright, covering a range of topics, including categories of works, scope of protection, ownership, and transfers of rights. Restatements of Law are the primary work product of the ALI, and the century-old institution has never before embarked on a ...
Episode Contents 58:12 – Overview of the American Law Institute and Restatements of Law 06:13 – Restatements have never addressed areas of primarily statutory law. 08:53 – Development of the 1976 Copyright Act 15:17 – “Why we are not opposed to the idea of a Restatement.” 25:09 – Criticism of the project’s lack of transparency. 31:28 – Criticism of the ...
One of the reasons someone like me mucks about in copyright law is that all law is an exercise in language. Especially because English comprises more words and, therefore, more shades of meaning than any language in the world, the logophile who enjoys a good fuss, bother, muse, agitation, or dither over deployment of le mot juste shares a kinship ...
