Common-Law Copyright Protection for Sound Recordings Lives In New York (At Least Until 2067)
State common law copyright can protect sound recordings even though the recordings are not protected under federal copyright law. The high court of New York ruled in Capitol Records, Inc. v. Naxos of America, Inc. (Apr. 5, 2005) that sound recordings created before February 15, 1972 can be protected by New York common law copyright protection until 2067, when the common law protection will be federally preempted.
The dispute involved performances by Yehudi Menuhin, Pablo Casals and Edwin Fischer recorded in the 1930s in the United Kingdom. Under British statute, the recordings had 50 years of copyright protection before entering the public domain. Defendant Naxos undertook a multistep restoration process of the original recordings and distributed remastered CD versions in the United States beginning in 1999. Plaintiff Capitol Records owns a license to exploit the recordings in the United States and sued Naxos for common law copyright infringement in the federal court for the Southern District of New York.
The district court granted summary judgment to Naxos, concluding that Capitol did not have intellectual property rights in the original recordings because the copyrights had expired in the 1980s. On appeal, the Second Circuit found the case raised several unsettled issues of state law and certified three questions, including whether the recordings had copyright protection from New York common law.
To determine the issue, the high court of New York traced the roots of copyright protection back to 16th century England and surveyed the history of copyright protection for sound recordings in the United States. In White-Smith Music Publ. Co. v. Apollo Co., 209 U.S. 1 (1908), the Supreme Court held that perforated rolls of music used in player pianos were not protected by federal copyright law because the music rolls were incapable of being read by a person and thus could not be “published.” Subsequently, Congress did not include audio musical works within the scope of the Copyright Act of 1909 but made clear that states could provide common law copyright protection. In 1971, the Copyright Act was finally amended to include sound recordings – but only those created after February 15, 1972. Congress made clear that states could provide common law copyright protection to earlier recordings until 2047 (later 2067).
Thus, the court concluded that New York common law protected the 1930s recordings at issue. Also key to the court’s decision was the finding that, in the absence of federal statutory protection for a sound recording, its public sale does not constitute publication which would have destroyed common law copyright protection. The court also held that no law or treaty prohibited New York from providing common-law protection to recordings that were in the public domain in the U.K.
The dispute involved performances by Yehudi Menuhin, Pablo Casals and Edwin Fischer recorded in the 1930s in the United Kingdom. Under British statute, the recordings had 50 years of copyright protection before entering the public domain. Defendant Naxos undertook a multistep restoration process of the original recordings and distributed remastered CD versions in the United States beginning in 1999. Plaintiff Capitol Records owns a license to exploit the recordings in the United States and sued Naxos for common law copyright infringement in the federal court for the Southern District of New York.
The district court granted summary judgment to Naxos, concluding that Capitol did not have intellectual property rights in the original recordings because the copyrights had expired in the 1980s. On appeal, the Second Circuit found the case raised several unsettled issues of state law and certified three questions, including whether the recordings had copyright protection from New York common law.
To determine the issue, the high court of New York traced the roots of copyright protection back to 16th century England and surveyed the history of copyright protection for sound recordings in the United States. In White-Smith Music Publ. Co. v. Apollo Co., 209 U.S. 1 (1908), the Supreme Court held that perforated rolls of music used in player pianos were not protected by federal copyright law because the music rolls were incapable of being read by a person and thus could not be “published.” Subsequently, Congress did not include audio musical works within the scope of the Copyright Act of 1909 but made clear that states could provide common law copyright protection. In 1971, the Copyright Act was finally amended to include sound recordings – but only those created after February 15, 1972. Congress made clear that states could provide common law copyright protection to earlier recordings until 2047 (later 2067).
Thus, the court concluded that New York common law protected the 1930s recordings at issue. Also key to the court’s decision was the finding that, in the absence of federal statutory protection for a sound recording, its public sale does not constitute publication which would have destroyed common law copyright protection. The court also held that no law or treaty prohibited New York from providing common-law protection to recordings that were in the public domain in the U.K.
posted by at 4/15/2005 09:22:00 AM
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