The owners of the rights to William Faulkner's
(1897-1962) literary works lost their battle earlier this week when a Mississippi
Federal judge declared victory for Sony in a lawsuit stemming from allegations
of violations of US Copyright laws.
The suit focused on the reference to a passage in
Faulkner's book, "Requiem to a Nun", which was used in Woody
Alan's movie, "Midnight in Paris." The character played by Owen
Wilson in the film, makes reference to the quote and even cites Faulkner with
having said it. However, the owners of the rights to the book accused the
distributors of the movie of copyright infringement when they failed to give credit
to the book itself, as being the source of the quote. Since the book is
protected under copyright law, the plaintiff's felt this was in fact a
violation. Sony argued that the passage was used under the Fair Use Laws,
and therefore was permissible and legal to use in the movie. The judge agreed
and no damages were awarded to the owners of the rights to the book.
There is a fine line these days between what is and what
is not considered infringement of copyright laws. And the laws can vary
depending on the industry. For example, there are more stringent laws with
regard to fair use of copyrighted material in the music industry. With millions
of people today on social media sites, sharing quotes and information via the
internet, it is becoming more and more difficult to enforce protection of
material that has been protected under US copyright laws. Here are a few links below to help you
navigate the current copyright laws, as well as some links to help you better
enforce and protect your own copyrighted materials.
US COPYRIGHT LAW
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/COPYRIGHT OFFICE REGULATIONS - CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS (CFR)
http://www.copyright.gov/title37/
CURRENT LEGISLATION
http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/
PROTECTING YOUR WORK
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-register.html
Contributed By:
StacySher S. Crandall
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