RE: Fw: Re: Copyright Ownership of Legal Briefs

I wonder if the issue wasn't really that once West started making the briefs available online, there was simply too little interest in a microfiche copy to make it viable for even a non-profit library to support. How many people would prefer a microfiche reader and the relatively poor microfiche printer output over what they could search and print from Westlaw? The cost of producing microfiche is not trivial, particularly in an age where it's a less useful technology. That's completely separate from the legal arguments about whether West would really have the right to provide the briefs through their service, of course.  

Richard A. Schafer
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
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-----Original Message-----
From: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property [mailto:CNI-COPYRIGHT[_at_]cni.org] On Behalf Of Pam Chestek (chestek.com) Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 10:31 AM To: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property Subject: [CNI-(C)] Fw: [CNI-(C)] Re: Copyright Ownership of Legal Briefs

We recently had a presentation from the county law librarian. When asked whether Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court briefs were still available on microfiche, the librarian said that the Social Law Library was no longer allowed to publish the briefs (or no longer had the contract, I'm not sure which), that West did instead. I don't know who has the authority to make this kind of decision, but it is the Office of Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (est. 1804) who is the official reporter of the court's decisions. Whether it also deals with the briefs, too, I don't know. Perhaps there's someone else on the list who knows more accurately what happened.  

<rest of Pam's comment omitted>

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