Saturday, January 21, 2012

The End of Public Domain?


 
The End of Public Domain?
Published on Dvorak News Blog | shared via feedly mobile

MPAA & RIAA would love this.

Congress may take books, musical compositions and other works out of the public domain, where they can be freely used and adapted, and grant them copyright status again, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

In a 6-2 ruling, the court said that, just because material enters the public domain, it is not “territory that works may never exit.” (.pdf)
[...]
Writing for the majority, Justice Ruth Ginsburg said “some restriction on expression is the inherent and intended effect of every grant of copyright.” But the top court, with Justice Elena Kagan recused, said Congress’ move to re-copyright the works to comport with an international treaty was more important.
[...]
In dissent, Justices Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito said the legislation goes against the theory of copyright and “does not encourage anyone to produce a single new work.” Copyright, they noted, was part of the Constitution to promote the arts and sciences.


Dwight A. Hunt, Sr. A+, MCP
Desktop Support Specialist - Lead

Facebook and Twitter: dahuntsr

Sent from my iPad2 

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