[Upd-discuss] Google public domain library?

[michael.davis@law.csuohio.edu]

The lawyers you know know their copyright law! It is standard textbook
copyright law that a mere change in medium does not confer copyright law.
Richard simply got it wrong.
As many courts have stated, copyright “is not supplied by a change of
medium, as "production of a work of art in a different medium cannot by
itself constitute the originality required for copyright protection”
See the following cases if you have any doubt:

Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp., 36 F. Supp. 2d 191 SDNY 1999)  Past
Pluto Productions v. Dana, 627 F. Supp. 1435, 1441 (S.D.N.Y. 1986) (citing
L. Batlin & Son, Inc., 536 F.2d at 491)). , Durham Ind., Inc. v. Tomy
Corp., 630 F.2d 905, 910 (2d Cir. 1980).


>
> On Mon, 20 Dec 2004, Richard Stallman wrote:
>
>>    Is is possible there is a negative "not" missing in the first para
>> below?
>>
>> If you're talking about this,
>>
>>    >> Richard Stallman wrote:
>>    >>> Under US copyright law, converting the work to a different medium
>>    >>> creates a new copyright.  So scanned files made from a
>> public-domain
>>    >>> book would not themselves be in the public domain.
>>
>> nothing was missing.  It says what it is supposed to say.
>
>>    >>> Under US copyright law, converting the work to a different medium
>>    >>> creates a new copyright.  So scanned files made from a
>> public-domain
>>    >>> book would not themselves be in the public domain.
>
>
> OK. . .then all the lawyers I know disagree. . .a photograph of pages
> could be copyrighted, but not a scan. . .at least until laws are revised.
>
> AND. . .most importantly of all, the WORDS could not be copyrighted,
> only the particular graphical representation of them could be. . .i.e.
> new fonts, layouts, illuminations, etc.
>
>
> I am not a lawyer. . .this is NOT a legal opinion or legal advice.
>
> IANAL = I am not a lawyer.
>
>
> Michael
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Mickey Davis
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