In the twenty-first century, differences in the treatment of trade in alcoholic beverages in comparison to other commercial goods seem at odds with the federal regulation of interstate trade under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which prohibits "differential treatment of in-state and out-of-state economic interests that…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: A federal judge in New York has ruled that, under federal copyright law, a group of Buffalo area school districts cannot videotape the televised works of three filmmakers - even for temporary educational purposes. U.S. District Judge John Curtin's decision deals another blow to the Erie County Board…

Discusses issue of photocopying of unpublished personal papers by archives and manuscript repositories at request of individual researchers. Historical rationale for common-law protection, support for statutory law protection, ambiguities in fair-use provisions, effects on photocopying, survey of manuscript repositories, and dissatisfaction with…

Discussion of the issue of copyright regulation highlights 1909 statute, 1976 Copyright Act, those affected by copyright, "Betamax" case, and responsibility of Congress in copyright regulation. Creation of federal administrative agency to design standards for application of fair copyright principles through regulation and adjudication is…

This review of sections of copyright laws most relevant to media librarians covers requirements of authors, sole rights of copyright owners, fair use and other exceptions to sole rights, the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) case, the Sony case, exempt public performances, and computer software. Twenty-nine references are provided.…

Reviews attempts to revise present copyright law to resolve areas of conflict concerning fair use, place of consumer of copyrighted works, and control of misuse of technology. Highlights include the Register's Report and its effect, American Library Association's response, publishing industry recommendations, Copyright Office recommendations, and…

This article discusses the effect of the Copyright Act of 1976 upon fee-based library copying services. Highlights include commercial advantage, open collection, notice of copyright, articles and small excerpts, multiple or systematic copying, purpose of fair use, the Williams and Wilkins case, and large-scale copying operations. Forty-four…

A federal appeals court has revised its opinion in a widely-watched copyright case, indicating that the ruling was not intended to apply to professors or independent scientists, but critics see the revision as even more confusing. The opinion found that copying scholarly journal articles by a corporate scientist did not qualify under the fair-use…

A federal court ruled that Kinko's Graphics Corporation, a national chain of photocopying stores, infringed on publishers' copyrights by reproducing excerpts from books and selling them in anthologies for college students. The firm was judged to be engaged in the publishing business and thus not covered under the law's provision of fair use for…

Various aspects of the use of copyrights for computer programs are discussed including: the history of copyright protection for programs, applications of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976, rights of the copyright owner, formalities for acquiring copyright protections, and enforcing the copyright. (BH)

Educators today have access to technologies that provide both new information sources and new methods of copying, adapting, and transporting information into the classroom. The purpose of this article is to help educators properly interpret and apply copyright law to the use of video as an instructional tool. (38 footnotes) (MLF)

The first article discusses issues relating to copyrights in America, including domestic and international organizations formed to protect copyrights, court litigation, international piracy, responsibility toward developing nations, and information technology. The second and third articles describe the Berne Convention for the Protection of…

The House Committee on the Judiciary reports favorably on a proposed amendment to a bill (H.R. 4412) to amend Title 17 of the U.S. Code relating to fair use of copyrighted works. The committee recommends passage of the bill to the effect that Section 107 of Title 17 be amended by adding at the end the following: "The fact that a work is…

This article presents an overview of the laws governing the use of computer software, along with an outline of precautions school districts should take to reduce the potential for liability. In 1964 the U.S. Copyright Office began to register software as a form of literary expression. This was followed by the Software Rental Amendments Act, which…

A new interpretation of the Copyright Clause of the Constitution supports the claim that it is unconstitutional for: (1) Congress to permit copyright by federal contractors on works commissioned by federal contract for compensation, and (2) the Copyright Office to register a copyright application from such a federal contractor. (Author/CLB)