Re: Life under stupid database legislation

On 98-06-18, Timothy Phillips <hrothgar[_at_]telepath.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks for tipping me off about the 15-year limit. It will be at least
> possible to copy all of Shakespeare's sonnets from a database, IF the
> database is circulated in multiple copies in a medium that can last for
> 15 years, and IF I am allowed to buy my copy free and clear and keep it
> for 15 years. But 15 years is still far too long. Traditional misap-
> propriation doctrine applies to "hot news" doesn't it? I don't see how
> anything can be "hot news" after 15 years. What this amounts to is not
> a misappropriation law, but a typeface or "published edition" copyright
> for anything that can be represented as a collection.
>
> If the database is only accessible on-line, however, are there ways
> that the proprietor can reset the 15-year clock on old items? say,
> by copying all the files to a new disk - would this count as an
> "investment" sufficient to reset the 15-year countdown on all the
> items that were copied?

You, Mr. Phillips, is correct that "Traditional misappropriation doctrine applied to "hot news" per the 1920's INS decision, but after the enactment of the 1976 Copright Act, all misappropriation and related claims that involved copyrightable subject matter and infringement/liability based on, e.g., copying, are pre-empted, at least if the new databased legislation incorporates sec. 301(a) of the Copyright Act. Am I incorrect in assuming that it does?

BARBARA BRUDNO, ESQ.
LAW OFFICES OF BARBARA BRUDNO
E-mail: BBIPLaw[_at_]aol.com
and APPELLATE RESOURCES GROUP
Website: http://www.appellateresources.com/ Received on Thu Jun 18 1998 - 19:59:22 GMT