In Luck's Music Library v. Gonzales, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week (May 24) that it was constitutional to re-copyright works that had fallen into the public domain. Excerpt: 'Plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of § 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act...which implements Article 18 of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. The section establishes copyright in various kinds of works that had previously entered the public domain, and plaintiffs argue that any such provision violates the Copyright and Patent Clause of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 8. Finding no such bar in the Constitution, the district court dismissed plaintiffs' claims....We review the district court's order de novo...and affirm.' (Thanks to Ann Bartow.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 5/31/2005 02:27:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
