RE: Peter Pan protected?

Yep. There's a faq at
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/about/cases/emily_somma_peter_pan.shtml. The complaint's at http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/. Cheers
Chris  

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-cni-copyright[_at_]cni.org [mailto:owner-cni-copyright[_at_]cni.org] On Behalf Of Jessica Friedman
Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 10:46 AM To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: RE: Peter Pan protected?  

Did you find the complaint online? If so, where? I have to give a lecture in a few weeks to small publishers under the tagline "Court Cases That Can Help You or Hurt You," and this might be worth mentioning, both in the context of Eldred and in the specific context of Peter Pan as a work that perhaps is not worth the risk of republishing unless this case results in a decision for the author. Jessica R. Friedman
 Chris Mohr <chrismohr[_at_]sprintmail.com> wrote:

I took a quick look at the complaint just for giggles--seems to me that in order for the publisher to win, they'll have to prove that the story was not 'published' in the U.S. before 1923. If it was published after that date, registered, and renewed, then Sonny Bono comes into play and the work's still under copyright. (The complaint says that Peter Pan was published, but it's conspicuously silent on where). Under the '09 Act, performance was not synonymous with publication.

I'm also assuming (but I don't know for sure) that the common law gave protection to unpublished works irrespective of country of origin. (cf 17 usc 104). I have no idea if that's right. Of course, if Eldred wins, then the case is mooted.

Cheers
Chris  

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