Thank you, Georgia, for that introduction. ^_^ As she mentioned, I am very interested in research about copyright- particularly how copyright affects the missions and practices of public and cultural institutions. It's a broad subject, and I more than welcome any suggestions on methodologies or where to look!
I'm fortunate enough to start here as some really interesting things are happening in the copyright world- Golan v. Gonzales has been sent back to a lower court with instructions to take into account First Amendment concerns! The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Lessig and others that § 514 has "altered the traditional contours of copyright protection in a manner that implicates plaintiffs' right to free expression." The news and decision are available at the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford.
First, the court rejected may of Lessig's arguments regarding "Limited Times" and Congressional authority. For the most part, the appeals court agreed that the Supreme Court shot down those arguments with the Eldred decision. Then things got interesting...
The court noted that Congress altered the traditional contours of copyright when it allowed works to be taken out of the public domain, since ordinarily no one, not even the creator, can copyright a work in the public domain. And although Congress might have the authority to perform such an action, the impact on free speech needs to be considered.
What does this all mean? It's hard to say at this point, and probably not a lot in the short term. I'm sure the case will be appealed, and Lessig could still lose the case during the First Amendment reexamination. But it's very interesting that the court agreed that these concerns were worth looking at, and that examination itself is most definitely a victory. These concerns are very legitimate, and it is great to see the courts acknowledging the issues.
Two of my favorite copyright bloggers are unsurprisingly not thrilled with the decision- William Patry and C.E. Petit (of Scrivener's Error, in the comments) each have criticisms worth reading.
Update: Lessig's Take.
