Re: Justice Stevens' dissent in Eldred

Professor,

I don't have the statutes at hand, and doubtless this will be answered on the list in greater detail, but it was my understanding that the extensions of copyright that Congress began passing in the sixties were done expressly for the purpose of extending the term of all existing copyrights while they worked out the copyright act itself. I think that any works requiring a renewal under the old act may have entered the public domain if not renewed, but I've spoken to some of the attorneys who assisted Eldred and it was clear (to them, at least), that no work that was properly renewed had entered the public domain since the mid-sixties unless it was put there by the rights holder.

Kevin W. Grierson

Kevin W. Grierson
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>>> Joseph.P.Bauer.1[_at_]nd.edu 01/27/03 09:59AM >>>
A minor point re: Eldred

In his dissent, in Part VI of his opinion, Justice Stevens notes that "only one year's worth of creative work -- that copyrighted in 1923 -- has fallen into the public domain during the last 80 years." That seems wrong to me. Even with all the interim extensions while the 1976 Act was being considered, some works went into the public domain each year before 1978. Then, in 1978, works first published in 1921 went into the public domain. And, in January 1998 (remember, the Sonny Bono Act was only effective Oct 1998), works published in 1922 went into the public domain. Finally, as best as I can calculate, works copyrighted in 1923 -- which Justice Stevens referenced -- are still subject to copyright protection, and will be until 2018.

Did he made a mistake, or do I have this all wrong?

Joe Bauer

Prof. Joseph P. Bauer
Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone: 574-631-6514 FAX: 574-631-4197 Received on Tue Jan 28 2003 - 14:07:05 GMT