Please add "Public Domain" to "license" list

Gregory Pomerantz gmp216 at nyu.edu
Mon Mar 17 18:40:37 UTC 2003


Quoting Greg Pomerantz (gmp at alumni.brown.edu):

> > How about this one: Hadady v. Dean Witter, 739 F. Supp. 1392 (C.D. Cal
> > 1990). Plaintiff published a newsletter from 1985 to 1987 with a notice
> > that said: "The information contained in this letter is protected by
> > U.S. copyright laws through noon EST on the 2d day after its release . .
> > ." The Court held that the notice was effective to cause an abandonment
> > of plaintiff's copyright after two days despite the fact that the notice
> > was not defective.
>
> Perhaps I haven't been paying adequate attention to posted details, but
> I'm unclear on whether "abandonment" in this context means the original 
> owner ceasing to own title (what I suspect), or the original owner being
> judged to have destroyed title to the property entirely.  Only the
> latter seems relevant to the foregoing discussion.  Perhaps you could
> clarify?

This page looks like a pretty good summary of abandonment in a copyright
context, although it is more aggressive than I think is prudent --

http://www22.brinkster.com/paradio/pages1/abandon.htm

Abandonment divests title to the work from the author, and I have no reason to
think title would vest in somebody else. Did you have something in mind?

Greg
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