Victory for the Public Domain in Golan v. Ashcroft
Via Larry Lessig comes great news in Golan v. Ashcroft: the 10th Circuit held that “plaintiffs have shown sufficient free expression interests in works removed from the public domain to require First Amendment scrutiny of &sec; 514 [of the Copyright Act, which granted new copyrights to some foreign works in the public domain here in the United States].” It ruled for plaintiff composers, performers, and publishers of public domain works and sent the case back to district court.
The 10th Cir. broadened the one ray of light in Eldred, the suggestion that First Amendment review is warranted where Congress has “altered the traditional contours of copyright protection.” Re-copyrighting of works from the public domain works just such an alteration, the Golan court held. Traditionally, “works in the public domain stay there.”
Those building on public domain works should be entitled to assume the works will stay public.
