Previous by Date Index by Date
Threaded Index 		Next by Date
Previous by Thread Next by Thread


Hyperlaw v. West-fyi 

Please excuse the duplication of this announcement but I thought some of
you might be interested in this announcement by AALL:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 1997

CONTACT: Robert Oakley, Washington Affairs Representative, 202/662-9160
 
HEADLINE: AALL Files Amicus Brief in Hyperlaw v. West

The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) took the lead amongst
library associations in filing an amicus brief on the case of Hyperlaw,
Inc. v. West Publishing Company.  The brief, prepared for AALL by Attorney
Arnold P. Lutzker of Fish & Richardson, P.C., was submitted to the United
States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on November 25, 1997. 

The brief--approved by AALL's Executive Board at its November board
meeting at the request of AALL Washington Affairs Representative Robert
Oakley--has been filed in response to West's appeal of the Hyperlaw v.
West decision rendered last May.  In the decision, the U.S. District Court
in the Southern District of New York held in favor of Hyperlaw, stating,
in summation, that each of the changes West makes to case reports are not
sufficiently creative to result in a new copyrighted work, and taken
separately or collectively, they do not result in "a distinguishable
variation" of the opinion written by the court. 

The brief 's Summary of Argument is based on the following three points: 

First, that West is trying to obtain copyright for minuscule edits of
government information, in this case, public domain judicial opinions. 
These changes are not enough to allow a copyright claim of originality as
a derivative work or a compilation.  Nor do they involve sufficient
original selection, coordination or arrangement to merit copyright
protection under the Supreme Court's decision in Feist. 

Second, that at a minimum, West's failure to comply with the notice
requirements of the Copyright Act of 1976 for the portions of its works
published prior to March 1, 1989 for which they wish to claim copyright
constitutes an abandonment of any claim of copyright for the editorial
revisions. 

Third, that reversing the District Court's decision would seriously
undermine fundamental principles of copyright law and public policy. 
Contrary to Section 105 of the Copyright Act and longstanding copyright
policy, it would severely limit the public's right of access to the broad
universe of federal government information. 

AALL has enlisted the financial support of a coalition of partners in the
filing of this brief.  AALL and its partners are known as the Shared Legal
Capability (SLC):  American Library Association, Association of Research
Libraries, Medical Library Association, Special Libraries Association as
well as the Society for American Archivists. 

AALL and the SLC--while having great respect for West as a provider of a
valuable digest system, including key numbering, headnotes, and case
synopses--believe that this case's outcome is of significant importance
well beyond the question of West's claim to copyright.  If Hyperlaw were
to fail in this appeal, commercial publishers of government information
could claim a copyright for a government work that they have compiled,
edited and disseminated.  This would have a chilling effect on the
public's ability to access works of the United States government. 

SLC's concern is that no publishing entity should be able to assert
copyright protection over public domain information by making a few
changes to preexisting text or data.  This case goes well beyond the
primary issue of West being able to claim copyright for its court
opinions.  Its outcome will determine the future of no fee public access
to public domain government information not only for West's commercial
competitors, but also for noncommercial entities, such as libraries, who
may wish to provide electronic access to court opinions or to other
government information. 

The full-text of the brief will be available on AALLNET, AALL's World Wide
Web site, within two working days.  Print copies of the brief are now
available free of charge from AALL Headquarters by contacting Steve
Serpas, Customer Service Coordinator, at 312/939-4764 or sserpas@aall.org. 

The American Association of Law Libraries was founded in 1906 to promote
and enhance the value of law libraries to the legal and public
communities, to foster the profession of law librarianship, and to provide
leadership in the field of legal information.  Today, with over 4,800
members, the Association represents law librarians and related
professionals who are affiliated with a wide range of institutions: law
firms; law schools;  corporate legal departments; courts; and local, state
and federal government agencies. 

Diane Klaiber, Executive Director
New England Law Library Consortium (NELLCO)
www.nellco.org
508-428-5342 (voice)
508-428-7623 (fax)
klaiber@law.harvard.edu


http://www.library.yale.edu/liblicense
© 1996, 1997 Yale University Library
 Please read our Disclaimer
E-mail us with feedback