Re: Copyrighting

On 29.07.97, Terry Carroll <carroll[_at_]tjc.com> wrote:
>
> On Mon, 28 Jul 1997, Robert Cumbow <cumbr[_at_]perkinscoie.com> wrote:
> >
> > (to my surprise) the Copyright Office does not regard web sites
> > as "published works."
>
> That's consistent with the definition of "publication." The gist of
> publication is distribution of copies, and specifically excludes mere
> public display or public performance.

It is not consistent with the understading of 'publication' that is common to most European jurisdiction. A text book case is the score to a symphony. This is generally only of interest to a few orchestras in a country, with the different voices written out, etc. The publication conventionally takes the form of the publisher making the relevant orchestras aware that a copy is locked away into the strong box of his (or her) office. This is traditionally taken to be an act of publication, though no copying takes place, and the score will be rented out to an interested orchestra (not repdoruced).

Another conventional example is the publication of radio or television programs. When a broadcasting company offeres other broadcasting companies to purchase a program, this is considered making the program reproduced (obviously it already have been made public).

There seems to be a preference of looking towards the *potential* for reproduction rather than the actual proof of reproduction. I would be very interested in having references to case law or literature dicussing this issue, our own legal doctrine is very meager.

And, by the way, Bradbury's Martian Chronicles should be reexamines, they are still by far the best literature available on the subject of Mars.

Jon Bing

Institutt for rettsinformatikk
Det juridiske fakultet
Universitetet i Oslo

Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law Faculty of Law - University of Oslo

PO Box 6702 St Olavs Plass
N-0376 OSLO - Norway

Phone: +47-22-850101, fax: +47-22-850102 Private fax: +47-22 67 74 78
<jon.bing[_at_]jus.uio.no> Received on Wed Jul 30 1997 - 15:16:39 GMT