On Tue, 14 Feb 1995, J Dale Debber wrote:
> Lets get real and recognize that the work a person or company does for
> profit is and should remain their property. West Publishing has a right
> to keep their work their own.
West makes a number of value added contributions to case law that are clearly protected by copyright, such as the West key system. What is in dispute with regard to legal information are two things. When West acts as the "publisher" of legal opinions, do the minor corrections, many telephoned or mailed to West by judges or parties in cases, allow West to copyright the published text of the opinions. Second, can West copyright the page numbers where cases appear on its bound volumes (the so called "interior" page numbers)? These are the value added things that West is seeking to protect. The reason for the amendment that failed in HR 830 was a belief by West that it would ultimately lose these copyright claims in court, even though it has done extremely in other litigation over the past decade.
The page number problem is particularly important, because as the only comprehensive publisher of case law over the past century, these are the citations which are used in a huge body of judicial opinions and law review articles. And with respect to the text of opinions, in some cases, the West published volumes are the only source of the opinions.
Or, as we see things, does the law belong to the public, or to the Opperman family's West Publishing Company?
material deleted
> C'mon everyone. Let us treat West Publishing and it's original work
> with the same respect we treat original art.
The text of a judges opinion is not West's original work. It if were, it would subject to copyright.
> J Dale Debber
> <debber[_at_]ix.netcom.com>
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