U.S. Constitution, Federal Law, and Selected Court Decisions

Article 1, Section 8. The Congress shall have power [...] [t]o promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

Chapter 1, Subject Matter and Scope of Copyright

§ 106 -- Exclusive rights in copyrighted works.
§ 106A -- Rights of certain authors to attribution and integrity.
§ 107 -- Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use.

Preface, Amendments to Title 17 since 1976(Includes the Digital Millennum Copyright Act [DMCA])

No Electronic Theft (NET) Act (1997)
Pub. L. No. 105-147

Amends Federal copyright law (17 U.S.C.) to define "financial gain" to include the receipt of anything of value, including the receipt of other copyrighted works. Sets penalties for willfully infringing a copyright: (1) for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain; or (2) by reproducing or distributing, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, one or more copies of one or more copyrighted works with a total retail value of more than $1,000. Provides that evidence of reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work, by itself, shall not be sufficient to establish willful infringement. Extends the statute of limitations for criminal copyright infringement from three to five years.

Rulemaking on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention of Technological Measures that Control Access to Copyrighted Works, October 28, 2000

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Public Law 105-304 (1998), added a new Chapter 12 to title 17 United States Code, which among other things prohibits circumvention of access control technologies employed by copyright owners to protect their works. Specifically, section 1201 provides that "No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title." This prohibition on circumvention became effective on October 28, 2000.

Title 37, Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights

Chapter II -- Copyright Office, Library of Congress

US Supreme Court

Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., 499 US 340 (1991)
Facts, whether alone or as part of a compilation, are not original, and therefore may not be copyrighted. A factual compilation is eligible for copyright if it features an original selection or arrangement of facts, but the copyright is limited to the particular selection or arrangement. In no event may copyright extend to the facts themselves.

Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises, 471 US 539 (1985)
The Nation's printing of portions of Gerald Ford's soon-to-be-published biography which dealt with his pardon of Nixon was infringement.

Additional Supreme Court Cases, Legal Information Institute, Cornell University
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