Re: 204 and copyright license

On 08/27/1999, John Noble <jnoble[_at_]dgsys.com> wrote:
>
> Radio Television Espanola S.A. v. New World Entertainment, Ltd.,
> No. 97-56418 (9th Cir., July 16, 1999) upholds a district court
> grant of summary judgment in a case claiming breach of an alleged
> exclusive license to broadcast certain programs. The Ninth Circuit
> agrees that fax documents and internal memoranda do not satisfy
> the writing requirement of sec. 204(a).
>
> I had thought it was clear that 204(a) applied to copyright transfers
> and assignments but not to license agreements. Am I wrong, or is the
> Ninth Circuit a bottle short of a six-pack.
>

My understanding is that 204(a) has been applied to exclusive licenses, but not to nonexclusive licenses.

Mark Lemley
<mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu> Received on Mon Aug 30 1999 - 14:48:16 GMT