Over the objections of musicians, teachers and others, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that some creative works that have entered the public domain can return to copyright status.

 

In a 6-2 ruling, the court said that Congress can authorize the re-copyrighting of books, musical compositions and other works. The case applied to a 1994 law that affected public works first published overseas between 1923 and 1989.

 

A group of orchestra conductors, educators, performers, publishers and film archivists brought the case to the high court after losing a decision before an appellate court. The plaintiffs argued that re-copyrighting public works would breach the speech rights of those who are now using those works without needing a license.

 

The decision has the potential to impact millions of old works, including books by H.G. Wells, Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis, the British films of Alfred Hitchcock and the musical compositions of Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Supreme Court Says Congress May Re-Copyright Public Domain Works (by David Kravets, Wired)

Public Domain Works Can Be Copyrighted Anew, Supreme Court Rules (by Adam Liptak, New York Times)