Forwarded message:
>From CNICOPY@charlie.usd.edu Wed Jul 7 13:06:03 1993
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1993 12:04:43 -0500 (CDT)
From: CNICOPY@charlie.usd.edu
To: CNI-COPYRIGHT@CNI.ORG
Cc: CNICOPY@charlie.usd.edu
Message-Id: <930707120443.8912@charlie.usd.edu>
Subject: electronic copyright collection of public domain materials
Contact: Michael Terpin/Rolland S. ?
The Terpin Group
Voice (310) 798 7875 Fax (310) 798-7825
For Immediate Release
June 23, 1993
WORLD LIBRARY OBTAINS JUDGMENT AGAINST PACIFIC HITECH FOR ELECTRONIC
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
California Case Advances Publishers Ability to Protect Electronic
Copyrights
(San Jose) - World Library, a leading electronic publisher of classic
literature on CD-ROM, has obtained a consent judgment against Pacific
HiTech of Salt Lake City, Utah, that will prevent the latter from
duplicating and selling unauthorized electronic text that is the
property of World Library.
World Library, in obtaining the judgment, alleged that Pacific HiTech
improperly infringed on its electornic copyright for duplicating nearly
860 works of literature from World Library's _Library of the Future_
CD-ROM and including those works on Pacific HiTech's product,
_Masterpiece Library._
In the consent judgment, U.S. District Court Judge James Ware formalized
the agreement that Pacific HiTech and its officers, directors, agents
and employees refrain from "directly or indirectly infringing World
Library's copyrights" for the 2,000 works of literature included in
its CD-ROM titles. The judgment also prohibited the future sale of
_Masterpiece Library_ in its current form. All current masters will be
destroyed and all infringing CD-ROM discs will be delivered to
World Library, where they will be recycled or destroyed, said William
Hustwit, CEO.
Decree Further Strengthens Electronic Copyright Protection
Although the underlying printed works are in the public domain, World
Library owns a copyright on the electronic translation of those works,
according to Michael Grow, of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, a leading
copyright, patent and intellectual property rights law firm in
Washington, D.C.
"Even though existing copyright law clearly protects World Library's
electronic copyrights, there is general confusion in the publishing
industry because the printed versions of these works are in the
public domain," noted Grow. The case in California was handled by
James Thompson of Hassard, Bonnington, Rogers and Huber, San Francisco.
World Library is also currently sponsoring legislation to clarify
existing copyright law on this particular issue.
Duplication Linked to Misuse of Internet
The original source of the duplication, according to Hustwit, appears to
be unknown persons who intentionally removed copyright notices and
identifying paragraph markers from World Library's product, then
placed the electronic text on one or more Internet data sites. From
there, the text was downloaded and eventually found its way into the
Pacific HiTech product. World Library stipulated that Pacific HiTech
did not act in bad faith in copying the text. Internet is a loosely
affiliated supernetwork of ten million users on more than 9,000
subnetworks, principally at government and university sites.
World Library was founded in 1989. The company has since sold more than
100,000 Cd-ROM titles worldwide, including _Library of the Future,
First Edition_ and _Second Edition_, _Electronic Home Library_,
_Greatest Books Collection_ and others.
Posted with permission of the Terpin Group
Mary Brandt Jensen CNICOPY@CHARLIE.USD.EDU
Professor of Law (605) 677 6363
University of South Dakota (605) 677 6357 fax
School of Law
414 E. Clark St.
Vermillion, SD 57069-2390
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 03/09/00 PST