Re: copyright and natural law?

Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
>
> I appreciate the scholarly contributions on this by you and
> others reviewing the history of authors' rights. Despite the
> twisting of the English language in the cases cited, it is
> apparent in every review that the laws recognized authors'
> exclusive rights over his/her work prior to publication.
>

But it seems to me that's a somewhat different question than the one we have been debating. The section of the constitution at issue enumerates the powers of Congress to enact statutes; it does not itself create rights in the absence of those statutes. You may not like the language of the statutes Congress creates, but it presumably has the power to define copyright as it chooses, subject only to whatever limitations other constitutional provisions might impose.  

Mark Lemley
Visiting Professor, Boalt Hall School of Law University of California at Berkeley (fall 1998) mlemley[_at_]mail.law.berkeley.edu
Professor of Law
University of Texas School of Law
Of counsel, Fish & Richardson P.C.
mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu Received on Thu Sep 17 1998 - 17:49:53 GMT