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Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

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gave incentive for people to express ideas.154 The existence <strong>of</strong> thefair use, along with other exceptions, was also important.155The defendants in Harper & Row had extracted/copied 300words from former President Gerald Ford’s biography, before itwas published, ruining a deal that had been made with TimeMagazine to do a pre-publication piece <strong>of</strong> 12,000 words. TheSupreme Court held that copying 300 words was not a fair use asit contained the most sensational details, including informationabout former President Nixon’s pardon (quality not quantitymattered here), and ruined an aspect <strong>of</strong> the commercialexploitation <strong>of</strong> the work. The defendants argued for a specialpublic figure or interest exception on top <strong>of</strong> fair use that wouldallow copyrighted work to be used in social communication. TheCourt rejected that argument, noting that copyright was itself anengine <strong>of</strong> free expression making it possible and rewarding forpeople to invest in the development and dissemination <strong>of</strong> ideas.156As the Act stood, there was sufficient reconciliation <strong>of</strong> thecommodifying or propertizing <strong>of</strong> information through copyrightand the notion <strong>of</strong> free speech.The First Amendment challenge to intellectual propertylegislation was dealt a further blow in the Eldred decision whenthe United States Court <strong>of</strong> Appeals for the District <strong>of</strong> Columbiaendorsed and reaffirmed the holding in Harper & Row that theCopyright Act and the First Amendment are adequately reconciledthrough the notions <strong>of</strong> the idea/expression dichotomy and the fairuse (along with other permissive use) doctrine(s).157 In otherwords, since the Copyright Act protects expression <strong>of</strong> ideas andnot the ideas themselves, there is technically no barrier to anycommunicative activity. Furthermore, fair use makes sociallynecessary material available in the face <strong>of</strong> the exclusive rights <strong>of</strong>the owner.In Eldred, the plaintiffs argued that the CTEA violated theFirst Amendment and was unconstitutional.158 The Courtexplained:The decisions <strong>of</strong> the Supreme Court in Harper & Row154. Id. at 558.155. Id. at 560.156. Id. at 558.157. Eldred, 239 F.3d at 375.158. Id. at 374.

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