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Library Groups File Amicus Brief in Copyright CaseSix library and archives associations filed an amicus brief June 28 in Faulkner v. National Geographic Society, a case that addresses whether publishers of collective works can republish those materials digitally without seeking permission of authors or other contributors.Several freelance photographers and writers sued the National Geographic Society for copyright infringement because their works are included on a CD-ROM containing scanned images of the print version of National Geographic magazine from 1888 to 1996. In December 2003, a lower court found such publication permissible under the Copyright Act, as long as digital versions place the works in the same context as the print original. The American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Association of Research Libraries, Medical Library Association, Society of American Archivists, and Special Libraries Association urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to affirm the lower court’s decision, arguing that a reversal would thwart efforts to digitize library collections and “would almost certainly have a negative impact on libraries and their patrons for many years to come.” The groups also noted that the case “differs considerably” from The New York Times Company v. Jonathan Tasini, in which the Supreme Court ruled that newspapers and magazines infringed the copyrights of freelance contributors by licensing their published articles, without further compensation, to commercial electronic databases. ALA and ARL had filed a joint amicus brief in that case supporting the freelancers. Posted July 9, 2004. |
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