Re: Re: When Infringement Begins

Wouldn't the date of infringement depend on what exclusive right is being infringed? If the design documents were copied in the course of making the fixtures, then the infringement is in the act of copying. Taking a design and making something from it, assuming no actual copying of the design document, might be an infringement of the right to make derivatives, which would be infringed when the derivative was actually made. A nice question is whether, since an unauthorized derivative does not get the infringing maker a copyright, copyright in the derivative is deemed to rest with the original copyright holder, and displaying the fixtures made from the design would be its own infringement (in which case you could say that it only happens when the store opens and the infringing work is first displayed to the public).

We should never forget that "copyright" consists of a bundle of different rights, not a monolithic one.

Vance, who loves these "what torts?" scenarios.

On 8/11/05, Keith Taber <ket354[_at_]yahoo.com> wrote:
> Assuming this is the only issue, the infringment could
> not have begun prior to a copy being made. That would
> likely have been after delivery of the plans to the
> substitute contractor but before delivery of the
> fixtures. So that sets your earliest possible date.
>
> I will defer to others on the issue of whether there
> is infringement before the store opens or how that
> effects your filing date analysis.
>
> Keith
>
> --- Mike Phillips <copyrightlist[_at_]mikephillips.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Client designed some decorative fixtures for a
> > retail store and submitted
> > them along with a proposal to manufacture them.
> > Store took the
> > drawings/plans to another company and had that
> > company build the fixtures.
> > The store is now open to the public and is using the
> > infringing articles.
> > When did the store's infringement begin? When they
> > delivered the drawings to
> > the substitute contractor, when the contractor
> > delivered the finished goods
> > to the store, when the store installed the displays,
> > or when the store
> > opened to the public? The date could be critical to
> > filling an application
> > to register the copyright in the designs "before the
> > infringement begins."
> > Any thoughts welcome.
> >
> > Mike Phillips
> >
> >
> >
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-- 
Vance R. Koven
Boston, MA USA
vrkoven[_at_]world.std.com