Mona:
Under the patent or copyright laws of the United States." Section 4966
of the Revised Statutes reads as follows:
"Any person publicly performing or representing any
dramatic composition for which a copyright has been
obtained, without the consent of the proprietor
thereof, or his heirs or assigns, shall be liable for damages
therefor, such damages in all cases to be assessed at
such sum, not less than one hundred dollars for the first,
and fifty dollars for every subsequent performance, as
to the court shall appear to be just."
Naturally a copyright holder has a monopoly limited to specified
"exclusive" rights in her copyrighted works. If a person,
without authorization from the copyright holder, puts a
copyrighted work to a use within the scope of one of certain 'exclusive
rights,' she infringes the copyright. If she puts the work to a use not
enumerated in ' 1, she does not infringe." 392 U.S., at 393-395.
If nothing is done for monetary gain...or to detract from Miss
Mitchell's sales I do not think there is a problem. That
notwithstanding, Helen's depiction could be considered "fair use". When
all is said and done this could be considered "de minimis non curat
lex".
It may be advisable to seek permission from Ms. Mitchell.
I stated earlier that I shared some of your concerns. Mine however stem
more from believing that Helen's artistic license is fairly
insignificant and would fail to rise to the level of an unfettered
replication of Miss Mitchell's copyright.
It really all comes down to whether there is a substantial similarity.
And again, I would apply the de minimus argument along with fair use.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> In a message dated 3/23/02 1:20:25 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> > Dear Hell, no disrespect intended as I write this post:...
> > How would Joni feel if we altered her composition and used her drawing for
> > this?
> > Shouldn't we ask her and get her permission if we use this logo? I think
> > we
> > should. It is the right thing to do. Also, consider the copyright issues.
>
> Although I am a litigator and only have an intellectual interest in
> Intellectual Property and Patent & Copyright Law, my instincts tell me this
> is a no-no. However, given Ashara's attention to detail, I just gotta
> believe this issue has been resolved, no?
>
> Mona L. Fitzgerald
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
