Re: broadcast speech

From: Bob Stock <bstock[_at_]ucla.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 16:34:46 -0700

On 4/22/98, Michael Seadle <seadle[_at_]mainlib3.lib.msu.edu> wrote:
>
> I have a couple of questions about the intellectual property issues for
> TV/radio broadcasts.
>
> 1) Are the speeches of federal officials speaking on work related
> matters copyright protected, or are they unprotected in the same way
> that federal documents are? ...I'm guessing the latter, but I find no
> authority for my guess.

I'm not sure what kind of authority you need. Section 105 says that copyright protection is not available for any work of the US Government. The speech of a federal employee would be such a work and would not be protected.

> 2) Does a broadcaster have an intellectual property interest in the
> spoken words themselves, as opposed to the images and commentary? ...My
> thought is that, since the broadcast adds nothing unique to the words
> themselves, it has no IP rights.

I assume you're still talking about the same speech. If so, then the words were authored by the officials, and no copyright in those words can belong to the broadcaster.

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Bob Stock <bstock[_at_]ucla.edu>
UCLA School of Law '98
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1206/

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Received on Thu Apr 23 1998 - 23:33:51 GMT