Dear museum-l reader (with apologies for cross-posting):
This is a call for help from scholars and visual resources specialists in
our efforts to overturn the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act now
before the Supreme Court.
The College Art Association has decided to file an Amicus brief in the
matter of Eldred v. Ashcroft, and to argue for a finding that the Sonny
Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA) is unconstitutional in its manner
of extending the length of time works remain under copyright. In our view,
CTEA has serious consequences relating to the free exercise of our first
amendment rights, and robs the public of the right to use works that were
created under a regime when copyright terms were shorter than they are now.
The erosion of the public domain that CTEA has caused can be halted if the
Supreme Court finds in favor of Eldred.
Counsel for CAA, Jeffrey Cunard (Debevoise and Plimpton) has prepared a
summary of our case and the reasons why it is being filed, and has asked me
to refer individuals who seek further clarification to its locaton. It may
be found at the following URL:
http://www.studiolo.org/CIP/AmicusEldredCAA.htm
Time is short:
The Amicus Brief must be filed in about 30 days from today, which means
that the information we are requesting from scholars must be presented
quickly. Mr. Cunard is more than willing to answer questions about this
project and to talk to people about their relevant experiences. His email
address is as follows: mailto:[log in to unmask]
We need to demonstrate that the Copyright Term Extension Act as now
constituted, adding 20 years to the copyright term (now the life of the
artist plus 70 years), has been or threatens to be detrimental to your work
as scholars, art historians, teachers, writers, and visual resources
workers. For this purpose we need to collect a variety of real-world
examples drawn from the experience and expectations of researchers and
scholars who
1) have had trouble tracking down copyright owners of older materials,
which were just to go out of copyright (from the '20s-'40s) until the
passage of the CTEA in 1998;
and/or
2) have had publishers deny them rights to use such works;
and/or
3) have had publishers tell them that they will not publish scholarly work,
including third-party copyrighted works that were about to fall into the
public domain, unless rights are cleared;
and/or
4) were anticipating that works would fall into the public domain, and were
hoping to make use of such works until the extension of the copyright term.
Any help you can provide in tracking down researchers whose actual
experiences can be used to demonstrate the extent to which the CTEA has
chilled the creation of expression will be invaluable. Offering up such
examples in our brief will highlight the effect of the term extension and
make it all the more vivid for the Court, demonstrating that the first
amendment "chill" is not just a theoretical possibility.
NOTE: This request not only refers to original works of art that meet the
above conditions, but also to copyrighted photographs documenting works of
art, even when those works are securely in the public domain.
Mr. Cunard's office will talk with those individuals whose stories are the
most compelling to verify the details. It's a chance for fame and fortune
(assuming that being in an amicus brief is "fame"), and, more importantly,
it's in aid of a good cause. Just send them our way!!
Contact Jeffrey P. Cunard mailto:[log in to unmask]
For further information see:
http://www.pipeline.com/~rabaron/index01.htm
Robert Baron
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