Gorman, Copyright Law, (Federal Judicial Center 1991), at 1-2. This history became the basis for the Copyright Clause of the Constitution and the enactment of implementing legislation in 1790. By the time the Statute of Anne was enacted in 1710, the focus of copyright had changed to the competing interests of protecting authors and encouraging the dissemination of knowledge. Copyright was created to serve the dual purposes of government control and special interest monopolization of publishing. United States copyright law traces its origin to Sixteenth Century England. The non-moving party may not merely rest on conclusory allegations contained in the complaint, but must respond with affirmative evidence supporting its claims and establishing the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. Once a motion for summary judgment has been made, "the non-moving party bears the responsibility to demonstrate that summary judgment is inappropriate under Rule 56(e)." Davidson & Jones Dev. Of course, the court is to construe the evidence and all inferences to be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Plaintiffs, nevertheless, contest the legal effect of this fact.Īs provided in Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a *1304 matter of law." Anderson v. The musical compositions are: "Sunnyside of the Mountain" and "Patanio, Pride of the Plain." Plaintiffs do not dispute the fact that the copyright renewal application for these works was filed three days before the one year period immediately prior to the expiration of the original copyright. Plaintiffs, however, dispute the legal significance of the absent copyright notices.ĭefendants assert that the two remaining works are in the public domain because the relevant application for copyright renewal was filed prematurely with the Copyright Office. # 9," "Don't Monkey With Another Monkey's Monkey," and "How Fast Them Trucks Can Go." Plaintiffs do not dispute the fact that the phonorecords were sold to the public without copyright notices. The four works are: "All-American Boy," "Apartment No. § 1331.ĭefendants claim that four of the musical compositions are in the public domain because Plaintiffs published the works by distributing phonorecords that did not contain a copyright notice. The Court has subject matter jurisdiction. The parties further agreed that the 1909 Copyright Act applies to this case. The parties, at oral argument, agreed that there are no genuine issues as to any material facts. The *1303 pending Motion seeks a ruling on six of these musical compositions that the Defendants believe are representative of certain legal issues common to all forty-two works. Plaintiffs have filed a Complaint for copyright infringement of forty-two musical compositions. The Court holds, based on the record in this case, that the copyrights in dispute were not renewed and that the works are in the public domain. The second issue is whether an application for copyright renewal that is filed with the Copyright Office before the one year period immediately prior to the expiration of the original copyright renews the copyright. The Court holds, based on the record in this case, that the works at issue are in the public domain. The first issue is whether the public distribution of a phonorecord without a copyright notice places the underlying musical composition into the public domain. This case presents two fundamental issues under the 1909 Copyright Act. For the reasons described herein, the Motion is GRANTED. The Court heard oral argument on the Motion on March 17, 1997. Pending before the Court is Defendants' Motion For Partial Summary Judgment (Docket No. Jay Scott Bowen, Nashville, TN, for Defendant. John Aaron Holt, Nashville, TN, for Plaintiff. Aubrey MAYHEW, d/b/a Mayhew Music Co., et al.,
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