An author is a person who creates, comes up with, or gives existence to something. Most people think of an author as an individual who wrote a paper, book, poem, letter, or any kind of literary work. If the work was made for hire, the employer or commissioning party is considered the author of the work.
Collective work is defined as a work, such as an issue of a magazine, an anthology or an encyclopedia, in which a number of contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a whole, see 17 U.S.C. §101.
Under the Copyright Act, a compilation is a "work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship.
A copy means an imitation or reproduction or duplicate of an original. Some common usesof the term “copy” in a legal sense include:
Copyright is the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something.
A copyright owner is the entity that owns the exclusive rights comprised within a copyright. Copyright owners have specific rights, such as reproduction of the work, distribution of the work, production of products deriving from the work or display of the work.
If a United States corporation resold foreign-manufactured goods obtained through a third party importer, may the reselling United States corporation defend on the grounds that the first sale doctrine applies and thus they are not liable for copyright infringement after the first sale of the goods?
Costco Wholesale Corporation sold watches manufactured in Switzerland by Omega S.A. without Omega’s prior authorization. Omega sued under the Copyright Act, claiming the sale of the watches was an infringement of their United States copyright. Costco defended on the grounds of the first sale doctrine, which currently provides a defense for reselling goods manufactured in the United States that are resold by retailers or distributors. Costco claims that the doctrine applies to foreign-manufactured goods as well. The district court granted Costco’s motion for summary judgment, but the Ninth Circuit reversed the ruling. The Supreme Court must now decide whether the first sale doctrine applies to goods manufactured abroad. The Court’s decision will influence copyright law, property rights, and the ability of retailers to resell goods.
Whether the Ninth Circuit correctly held that the first sale doctrine does not apply to imported goods manufactured abroad.
Omega is a corporation that manufactures high-end watches in Switzerland. See Omega v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, 541 F.3d 982, 983 (9th Cir.
Derivative work refers to a copyrighted work that comes from another copyrighted work. Copyrights allow their owners to decide how their works can be used, including creating new derivative works off of the original product. Derivative works can be created with the permission of the copyright owner or from works in the public domain. In order to receive copyright protection, a derivative work must add a sufficient amount of change to the original work.
“Fixed in a tangible medium of expression” is one of the requirements for receiving copyright protection for a work under the Copyright Act in 17 U.S.C. § 102(a). In order to apply for copyright protection, a work must fulfill all the requirements of being fixed in a tangible medium of expression which has different elements that may be confusing for different types of works.
Does a statute extending copyright protection to works that are in the public domain violate the First Amendment and the Copyright Clause of the United States Constitution?
Congress enacted Section 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act in order to comply with the international copyright standards of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Section 514 restores copyright protection to foreign works currently found in the public domain. Lawrence Golan and other performers, educators, and motion picture distributors brought this suit challenging Section 514, arguing that Congress’s removal of works from the public domain exceeded its Copyright Clause powers. Golan also argues that Section 514 violates the First Amendment because the law does not serve any important government interests. Attorney General Holder counters that the Copyright Clause does not restrict Congress’s authority to remove works from the public domain. He further argues that Section 514 does not violate the First Amendment because the government has a substantial interest in complying with the Berne Convention and protecting American works abroad. The Supreme Court’s decision will affect millions of foreign works currently in the public domain, existing and future works based on those foreign works, and the copyright protection of American works in foreign countries.
1. Does the Progress Clause of the United States Constitution prohibit Congress from taking works out of the Public Domain?
2. Does Section 514 violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution?
In 1989, the United States became a party to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (“Berne Convention”). See Golan v. Holder, 609 F.3d 1076, 1080 (10th Cir. 2010).
Wex: First Amendment
Wex: Copyright
Patently O: Copyright: Supreme Court to Hear Constitutional Challenge to Copyright Restoration (March 7, 2011)
