sovereign nations & copyright law

Are citizens of sovereign nations within the U.S. (ie: the various Indian Tribes) subject to U.S. copyright law? Does it make any difference whether the material is created and fixed within reservation land or on U.S. soil?

We've had an interesting question come up at work -- a client wants to use some native music, recorded during a recent pow wow, on a videotape that will be used as a fund-raiser for a non-profit native educational entity ("We'll send you a CD of the song."). While we have not yet heard the recording, we believe it is traditional music, probably composed a long, long time ago and passed along through the generations. Allegedly it is neither sacred music nor specific to any particular tribe or group. We don't know the circumstances under which the recording was made or what rights the producer actually holds (although we are working to track that down). The client claims he's covered under the "fair use" exception to U.S. copyright law. My first question was does U.S. copyright law even apply here?

I'd appreciate any information anyone can give me.

Jayne Sebby
Nebraska ETV
<jsebby[_at_]unlnotes.unl.edu> Received on Thu Jul 20 2000 - 16:11:15 GMT