Re: Old Time Radio and Copyright

On 29 Jul 98, Joseph C. McGuire <joseph[_at_]sos.net> wrote:
>
> How can a live broadcast recording be considered unpublished? Under
> todays law it would copyrighted immediatly. Under the 1909 it had to be
> registered if published. Isn't broadcasting publishing?

Actually, the copyright statute provides explicitly that broadcasting is not publishing. See 17 USC 101, which provides in part that a public performance or display of a work includes transmittal (i.e., broadcast) of the work, and that "a public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication." This becomes important in light of a fair use analysis, given the heightened protection granted to unpublished works. For a discussion of this issue, see L. Ray Patterson, Free Speech, Copyright, and Fair Use, 40 Vand. L. Rev. 1, 65 n.214 (1987), and the criticism there of Pacific & Southern Co. v. Duncan, 744 F.2d 1490 (11th Cir. 1984).

Happy trails,
Rod

Rod McCarvel
<rod[_at_]seanet.com>

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

          -Anatole France Received on Thu Jul 30 1998 - 17:52:04 GMT