Court of Claims held that it was a fair use for libraries to photocopy articles for use by patrons engaged in scientific research. The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Supreme Court.
This decision, written by Judge
Oscar Davis, has been cited as part of the trend in which the courts will take a cautious approach to intellectual property issues raised by the advent of new technology. Rather than enforce the rights of the author articles by placing a prohibition on such copying, the Court in this case held that this was not prohibited by the law as written, leaving it to the
United States Congress to address the issue through legislation.
In particular, according to
David L. Lange (No Law), the case was a turning point for the doctrine of
fair use: while for many decades the standards applied by courts to enforce copyright (or not) had been "arcana", the
1976 Copyright Act codified some fundamental criteria.
Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios (1982), holding that public use of videocassette recorders to view previously broadcast programs was within fair use
American Geophysical Union v. Texaco, Inc. (1995), Second Circuit Court of Appeals case holding private company research library's similar photocopying of journal articles was not fair use due to commercial purpose.
Further reading
Perlman, Harvey S.; Rhinelander, Laurens H. (1975). "Williams & Wilkins Co. v. United States: Photocopying, Copyright, and the Judicial Process". The Supreme Court Review. 1975. University of Chicago Press: 355–417.
doi:
10.2307/3108815.
JSTOR3108815.
Court of Claims held that it was a fair use for libraries to photocopy articles for use by patrons engaged in scientific research. The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Supreme Court.
This decision, written by Judge
Oscar Davis, has been cited as part of the trend in which the courts will take a cautious approach to intellectual property issues raised by the advent of new technology. Rather than enforce the rights of the author articles by placing a prohibition on such copying, the Court in this case held that this was not prohibited by the law as written, leaving it to the
United States Congress to address the issue through legislation.
In particular, according to
David L. Lange (No Law), the case was a turning point for the doctrine of
fair use: while for many decades the standards applied by courts to enforce copyright (or not) had been "arcana", the
1976 Copyright Act codified some fundamental criteria.
Sony Corp. v. Universal City Studios (1982), holding that public use of videocassette recorders to view previously broadcast programs was within fair use
American Geophysical Union v. Texaco, Inc. (1995), Second Circuit Court of Appeals case holding private company research library's similar photocopying of journal articles was not fair use due to commercial purpose.
Further reading
Perlman, Harvey S.; Rhinelander, Laurens H. (1975). "Williams & Wilkins Co. v. United States: Photocopying, Copyright, and the Judicial Process". The Supreme Court Review. 1975. University of Chicago Press: 355–417.
doi:
10.2307/3108815.
JSTOR3108815.