Prof. Law & Ethics
77393/06 Spring 2003
09: February 19, 2003

Reading and questions for class 10, Feb. 24:
Baker v. Selden
What did Baker copy from Selden's books? Why did the Supreme Court conclude that Baker did not infringe on Selden's copyright?

Kern River v. Costal
Why did the court conclude that the maps in question were not copyrightable works?

Baker v. Selden and Kern River v. Costal both deal with the relationship between idea and expression. What are the differences and similarities between theses cases.

The U.S. Copyright Office web page is a good source of information on current issues in copyright law. You can find the compelete text of the Copyright Act there. See the complete section of definitions.

If you want to learn more about licensing in the music business see the web page of the music licensing company BMI. Look the information under About BMI.

Apple v Franklin
List the various arguments that the defendants advanced in this case and explain how the court resolved each of them.

Read the essay: Why Software Should Not Have Owners by Richard Stallman.
Why does Stallman think is wrong for software to have owners?

www.fsf.org is the web site of the Free Software Foundation. At this site you will find many links to documents about issues of software ownership.