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Fox Sues Over Reuse Of Public-Domain Documentary

Posted by timothy on from the sue-you-sue-anybody dept.

leabre writes " Yahoo! Intellectual Property News is reporting that a small video distributer is being sued (U.S. Supreme Court) over reusing a work (WWII documentary) whose copyright had expired in the 70s, without giving credit to 20th Century Fox on the now public-domain work. What's more, Fox wants the courts to expand the copyright (which it let fall into the public domain more than 20 years ago) so they can recover damages from the distributer... " Read on for more (including several links) about this case. favorite quote: 'Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told Cendali that her client let the copyright lapse for the documentary, in the 1970s, and now wants the court to expand copyright protection so it can recover damages from Dastar. "The defense replies 'It was in the public domain,' O'Connor said. 'Of course they had a right to copy it.'" The outcome of this should be watched closely as it has the potential to further distort our fair use rights. There are more links on EFF , Dept. of Justice, and the Supreme court filing (appeal)[pdf]."

3 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. 3. Profit! by orthogonal · · Score: 4, Funny

    In other news, thanks to everybody using that code I released to the public domain.

    Suckers!!!

    Now that it's deeply embedded in your projects, All Your Base Are Belong To Me!

    Yours sincerely,
    Richard Stallman

    --
    Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
  2. I cannot believe this! by Elpacoloco · · Score: 2, Funny

    Fox does not have a case here.

    The material fell out of copyright and is now public domain and they're still claiming rights to it?

    Hold on, I gotta go sue the supermarket to recover the money I spent there -- because hey, it *USED* to be mine....

  3. Re:Mixed feelings by Big+Sean+O · · Score: 2, Funny
    This is the equivalent of taking a novel by, say, Charles Dickens, editing it and perhaps adding another chapter, changing the title and claiming it as a new novel written by yourself. Really sleazy, IMHO.


    Ever see the broadway show The Mystery of Edwin Drood? Thing is, once it's in the PD, you can do exactly that.

    Now, taking a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson and setting it in Space, now THAT's sleazy...
    --
    My father is a blogger.