Re: Copyright ownership of bin Laden video?

On Thu, 13 Dec 2001, Doug Isenberg wrote:

> I suppose they're purely academic questions, but just out of curiosity:
> Who owns the copyright in the Osama bin Laden videotape released today by
> the U.S. government?

Presumably it's an unpublished work, so national origin isn't a problem; the work is protected regardless of national origin. So it depends who the author is. Ordinarily, the author is the person operating the camera.

If the work is deemed published, then you have to look to the rest of section 104 to see whether it's covered. It's going to depend primarily on the nationality or place of first publication. If, for example, the videograpgher is an Afghanistan national, the US has no treaty arrangements with Afghanistan covering copyrigh, so the work is in the public domain as far as US copyright is concerned.

If the author is a national of some other nation that does have a copyright relationship, copyright would vest in the videographer.

-- 
Terry Carroll        |  "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."
Santa Clara, CA      |   - Washington Legal Foundation v. Legal 
carroll[_at_]tjc.com      |     Foundation of Washington, no. 98-35154
Modell delendus est  |     (9th Cir. Nov. 14, 2001) (Kozinski, dissenting)