COPYRIGHT LAW SPRING 2002: CLASS 1 Professor Fischer Introduction to Copyright January 7, 2002

Welcome! 2 Handouts: Course Outline Reading List (up until Spring Break) Everything is available online at: on Copyright Law 2002)

Course Outline Please read carefully Attendance Exams/Grading/Quizzes Contacting me: or Class Listserv - send me by Friday Class Participation/Class Preparation

Reading List 2 books: Casebook (Gorman & Ginsburg, 6th edition) and Statutory Supplement (2002 edition) Class Preparation Discussion Questions

Copyright Law: Exciting, Cutting-edge, and Practical A core subject in the intellectual property, communications, entertainment law, and cyberlaw fields Interesting because it is currently adapting to new digital technologies Involves creative works including art, music, and literature

Topics for Today’s Class 1. The basics - what’s a copyright? 2. Example of a copyright dispute 3. Some history of copyright law

What’s a Copyright? ©

What’s a Copyright Essentially, a right of limited duration to make copies of a given work and stop others from making copies (and some other acts) without the copyright owner’s permission. Copyright is a bundle of exclusive rights that exists in certain types of works

Example of a Copyright Dispute Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569, 114 S.Ct 1164 (1994)

History of Copyright Law St. Columba and King Diarmid “To every cow her calf and to every book its copy”

Copyright is Technology’s Child Pirating of manuscripts was not a big problem until a technological development: the printing press

Copyright Originally Developed in England: The Statute of Anne (1710) The Statute of Anne (1710) Elements of Later Copyright Statutes 1. Notice 2. Registration 3. Deposit 4. Penalties for Infringement

Stationers’ Company Livery company in the City of London Facilitated Crown control of printing Had exclusive right to practice the art of printing until Licensing Acts expired in 1694

U.S.: Colonial/Early State Copyright Acts Did all the U.S. states have copyright laws after the American Revolution? What was the main problem with these early state copyright statutes? What did the Framers of the Constitution do as a result of this problem?

Patent and Copyright Clause U.S. Const. Art. I sec. 8 cl. 8 The Congress shall have power... To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive right to their respective Writings and Discoveries

Federal Copyright Statutes Starting in 1790, Congress passed a series of copyright acts Originally covered only books, maps and charts Copyrightable subject matter has moved way beyond this to e.g. computer programs, etc..

Wheaton v. Peters (1834) Dispute between Henry Wheaton and Richard Peters, rival law reporters What was the issue that the U.S. Supreme Court had to decide? Why was it a significant issue?

Important Subsequent Federal Statutes Copyright Act of 1909 Copyright Act of 1976 Many amendments to the Copyright Act of 1976, e.g. Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (1990), Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998) etc.

U.S. Ratification of the Berne Convention What is the Berne Convention? When did the U.S. ratify it?

Final Words on Historical Trends in Copyright Law 1. Progressive expansion of copyrightable subject matter 2. Expansion of duration 3. Growing U.S. participation in international copyright system 4. Steadily reduced importance of formalities