Re: copyright of briefs

Paul Heald <heald[_at_]jd.lawsch.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> Maybe they're technically copyrigthable, but wouldn't reprinting
> them certainly be a fair use? Can anyone provide even one reason why
> we should want to see filed briefs not made available to the public
> for copying? The federal courts seem to take the view that
> photocopying is fair use--most will photocopy briefs at your request
> (and charge you a per page copying fee). This is good, isn't it?
>

I agree that public inspection and copying should be a fair use, but I can see some law firms objecting to the wholesale copying of their work by their competitors. Maybe focusing on market impact (as fair use does, at least in part) draws approximately the right line here.

Mark Lemley
Assistant Professor, University of Texas School of Law Of Counsel, Fish & Richardson, P.C.
mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu

For information on the Intellectual Property program at UT, see http://www.utexas.edu/law/intelprop/ Received on Fri Oct 18 1996 - 13:59:23 GMT