Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Court rules common law protects recordings

Court rules common law protects recordings: "New York's highest court ruled Tuesday that common law protects a record company's copyright on recordings made prior to 1972 -- a decision that could have industrywide ramifications for everything from Bach to the Beatles. That lawsuit involved Franklin, Tenn.-based Naxos of America Inc., which restored and marketed 1930s classical records made in England by another company, The Gramaphone Co. Limited, after the 50-year British copyright had expired. Hollywood, Calif.-based Capitol Records Inc., which currently holds the rights to those recordings, sued. A federal court dismissed Capitol's suit, saying federal copyright law only protected recordings since 1972, and Capitol had no common-law protections under New York state law. Capitol appealed the common-law finding to the New York Court of Appeals, which ruled in its favor. A federal appeals court will now rule on the company's lawsuit using the state court's decision."

supremes here we come again! wow is there no end to the extension of copyright? btw this post is posted under the cc except for the INFRINGING QUOTE ABOVE, I STOLE!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It seems clear that there is a conflict of laws issue here between NY and the feds. I'd be surprised if the federal appellate court upholds the state law.