The quarter is almost over. It's time to study issues in more detail and continue our review of pertinent cases.
Unless noted, the subjects listed below are briefly covered in Chapter 6, 10, and the Appendices of
How to Register Your Own Copyright
by Mark Warda.
Summer Term Workshop Presentations
Each presenter will give us "the best of" his or her field presentation.
Spring Term: Review of Work-for-Hire, Assignment & License
For our meeting:
1. Please read about the Corel case. Review last week's cases.
2. Study the new copyright fees. Start at either http://www.loc.gov/copyright or http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html (where I searched for Copyright AND Registration AND Fee*)
3. Answer the following, using your textbook (pages listed) or using other resources, such as Prof. Field's site or the Copyright office site:
What is Work-For-Hire? What are the benefits of remaining an independent contractor who assigns rights to the client?: pages 44-48, 179, 181, 183
What is an Assignment of Copyright?: 47, 180, 189
What are Licenses (non-exclusive, exclusive): 61-63, 180, 191
What is Recordation of License? 62
When would you use Form VA vs. Short Form VA? (Appendix H)
Legal Eagle Research Questions:
Multimedia Issue: How many pieces of intellectual property might there be in a movie clip that has a score containing a pop song?
Trademark Issue: After comparing costs and services, which online trademark search service would you use?
Also for our discussion:
Working World Issue: What constitutes a contract? Is a verbal contract binding?
Future Shock: Notice the changes to satellite TV and to databases (announced below):
from U.S. Copyright Office's NewsNet
June 2, 1999 Issue 50
For additional information, visit the Copyright Office homepage at
http://www.loc.gov/copyright.
FINAL REGULATION ON FEES PUBLISHED (64 FR 29518)
The Copyright Office published on June 1 its final regulations adjusting
certain fees it charges for copyright registration, recordation, and
related services, to more nearly recover the reasonable costs of
providing these services. To facilitate public reference and Copyright
Office administration, the Office also consolidated and relocated in one
regulatory section most references to fees for other services, including
fees for discretionary or special services and services performed by the
Licensing Division. The effective date of the regulations is July 1.
OFFICE PERMITS GROUP REGISTRATION OF DAILY NEWSLETTERS (64 FR 29522)
Publishers of daily newsletters will now be able to group daily
newsletters for registration on one application and take advantage of a
lower fee than if each issue were separately registered, similar to the
present situation for daily newspapers. On June 1 the Copyright Office
published its final regulation concerning group registration of daily
newsletters, which permits a group registration of one month's worth of
daily newsletters, provided certain conditions and deposit requirements,
as outlined in the regulation, are met. The regulation is effective July
1.
Legislative News
SENATE PASSES MAJOR SATELLITE REFORM BILL
On May 20, the Senate passed H.R. 1554, the Satellite Home Viewers
Improvement Act, which, among other provisions, would extend the
satellite compulsory license, which is set to expire at the end of this
year, for another 5 years. The measure would amend both the Copyright
Act and the Communications Act of 1934. The Senate substituted the
language of S. 247, as amended, for the language of the House-passed
version. In addition to extending the satellite license, the new bill
creates a new compulsory license, which allows satellite carriers to
retransmit local television stations to households within the stations'
local markets, just as cable does; its cuts the copyright royalty rates
paid for satellite transmission of distant signals by 30 or 45 percent,
depending on the type of signal; it allows consumers to switch from
cable to satellite service without a 90-day waiting period for network
signals; and it allows for a national Public Broadcasting Service feed.
The new bill includes the language of S. 303, the Satellite Television
Act of 1999, which was reported out by the Senate Commerce Committee
(Senate Report No. 106-51), and which deals with various FCC-related
issues as "must carry" and retransmission consent requirements for
satellite carriers. The Senate and House must now appoint a conference
to work out the differences between the two versions of the Satellite
Home Viewers Improvement Act.
DATABASE PROTECTION AMENDED AND VOTED OUT OF COMMITTEE; NEW MEASURE
INTRODUCED IN COMMERCE
H. R. 354, the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act, was amended
and reported out of the House Intellectual Property Subcommittee on May
20 and further refined and reported out by the Judiciary Committee on
May 26. The bill would offer protection to collections of information
such as electronic databases under the Copyright Act, by relying on
unfair competition principles to prevent a party from misappropriating
another's collection of information.
Other legislation on the same topic, H.R. 1858, the "Consumer and
Investor Access to Information Act" was introduced on May 19 by Rep. Tom
Bliley (R-Va.) and referred to the Commerce Committee. However, unlike
H.R. 354, the bill would not amend the Copyright Act. It would prohibit
the sale or distribution of a database that "(1) is a duplicate of
another database that was collected and organized by another person and
(2) is sold or distributed in commerce in competition with that other
database."