[UFO Chicago] [Fwd: NYTimes.com Article: Supreme Court to Intervene in Internet Copyright Dispute]

[Larry Garfield]

Who's taking bets on how the SC will rule?

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: NYTimes.com Article: Supreme Court to Intervene in Internet
Copyright Dispute
Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 10:35:36 -0800 (PST)
From: rgarfiel@wppost.depaul.edu
Reply-To: rgarfiel@wppost.depaul.edu
To: lgarfiel@students.depaul.edu

This article from NYTimes.com 
has been sent to you by rgarfiel@wppost.depaul.edu.


though you might be interested in this.  the Bush-idos strike again.

rgarfiel@wppost.depaul.edu


Supreme Court to Intervene in Internet Copyright Dispute

February 19, 2002 

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


 

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to intervene
in a fight over copyrights, deciding whether Congress has
sided too heavily with writers and other inventors. 

The outcome will determine when hundreds of thousands of
books, songs and movies will be freely available on the
Internet or in digital libraries. 

Groups challenging copyright law argued that justices
should protect the public's right to material. 

The Bush administration urged the court to reject the
groups' appeal. Because copyrighted material can be used
under some circumstances, "the concerns and values
reflected in the First Amendment are therefore fully
satisfied," Solicitor General Theodore Olson wrote the
court. 

The Constitution authorizes Congress to give authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their works for a
"limited" time. In 1790, copyrights lasted 14 years. Now
it's 70 years after the death of the inventor, if the
person is known. 

Lawrence Lessig, attorney for the challengers, said the
latest 20-year extension approved by Congress in 1998 is
ill-timed and unconstitutional. 

"Just as the time that the Internet is enabling a much
broader range of individuals to draw upon and develop this
creative work without restraint, extensions of copyright
law are closing off this medium to a broad swath of common
culture," he wrote. 

The challengers include organizations and businesses that
specialize in former copyrighted material, like books,
movies and songs. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia ruled that they "lack any cognizable
First Amendment right to exploit the copyrighted works of
others." 

The Bush administration said Congress promotes progress by
giving people rights to their material. The administration
also defended lawmakers' decision to apply the 20-year
extension to all current copyrighted material, not just
future. 

"Congress was entitled to establish a system of copyright
that treats authors in a more evenhanded fashion," Olson
wrote in the government filing. 

The 1998 copyright changes, known as the Sonny Bono
Copyright Term Extension Act, bring U.S. rules in line with
those in the European Union. 

Congress extended the term of copyright 11 times in the
past century, said law professor Mark Lemley, representing
the non-profit Internet Archive. 

Lemley told the Supreme Court that copies of old books,
movies and sound recordings are being lost before they can
be archived. He said in 1930, 10,027 books were published
but as of last year, all but 174 were out of print. 

If it wasn't for the law, "digital archives could
inexpensively make the other 9,853 books published in 1930
available to the reading public starting in 2005," he
wrote. If the law "still stands, we must continue to wait,
perhaps eternally, while works disappear and opportunities
vanish." 

Justices last reviewed a large copyright case in 1985, but
the laws have changed since then. 

The case is Eldred v. Ashcroft, 01-618.


http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/19/national/19WIRE-SCOTUS.html?ex=1015143736&ei=1&en=f6c016bdf87a7622



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