Re: copyright under stress

On 6/13/2000, Marty Hayes <9ball[_at_]hostsite.net> wrote:
>
> On Mon, 12 Jun 2000, Robert Cumbow <rcumbow[_at_]grahamdunn.com> wrote:
> >
> > I love the economic mumbo-jumbo, but I'm with Don Roemer in believing
> > that copyright has to do with the right to copy, not freedom of access.
> > I'd be interested in seeing concrete examples of situations in which
> > copyright causes denial of access. M
>
> Cast another vote here in agreement with Don Roemer and Robert
> Cumbow that copyright has to do with the right to copy and *not*
> freedom of access.
>
> The only instance I can think of where the presence of a copyright
> might result in restricted access is when reproductions of a work
> are either scarce or non-existent and the holder of the copyright
> declines to provide access to the original. IMHO, I would tend to
> think that scenario would happen less and less as the technology
> for widespread initial publication continues to develop.

Now I am jumping into this thread a bit late, but what about the basic premise that many software companies have with regards to their source code. Microsoft even made this argument in their recent trial, basically stating that they had done nothing wrong by not allowing access to their source code, because that is a basic tenant of copyright ownership that they do not have to provide the source code to anybody.

I following a case (tangentially and on a personal note, not as an attorney) that involves a situation that is somewhat of the reverse question though: The owners of the copyrights for a deceased author suing a person who owns the manuscripts for a number of unpublished works (and only known copies) for access to those works. (Actually the case is a lot more complicated, but I simplified it a bit) The owners have even asked the court to order the owner of the manuscripts to transfer them over to the copyright holders. The court has not yet ruled on the motion, but it will be interesting to see if he will order the owner of the manuscript to give access to the copyright holders.

The lawyers were pretty clever though, because they hedged their bets. Not only did they file a motion for access, they also filed a discovery motion asking for copies of everything related to the suit, including the manuscripts. Either way, they will probably get a copy.

Rob Jones
<rjones[_at_]robjob.com> Received on Wed Jun 14 2000 - 14:31:09 GMT