Interactive Timeline of US Copyright Law

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Innovation: White House Flickr feed goes Public Domain

May 12, 2009

The popular photo-sharing site Flickr, in collaboration with the Obama administration, has changed the licensing designation on photos in the Official White House Photostream to reflect that, as U....

Fair Use? AP alleges Copyright infringement of Obama Image

Feb 4, 2009

During the 2008 presidential campaign, the Obama HOPE poster designed by prominent street artist Shepard Fairey achieved iconic status. Soon after Fairey's poster appeared in early 2008, it went vi...

Not Fair Use: Harry Potter Fan Fiction

Sep 8, 2008

For seven years, a Harry Potter fanatic worked on a guidebook to J. K. Rowling’s best-selling series, but in the end, a federal judge ruled on Monday, his book was too close to the work he admired....

Innovation: Remixing copyrighted music

Aug 6, 2008

The D.J. Girl Talk has won positive reviews for his new album and news media attention for its Radiohead-style pay-what-you-want pricing, and on Friday night he is scheduled to play a high-profile ...

Fair Use: Baby Dancing to Prince on YouTube

Jul 1, 2008

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube In August 2008, a U.S. court ruled that copyright holders cannot order the removal of an online file without first determining whether the posting reflec...

Innovation: YouTube & Copyright Video ID

2007

YouTube has been criticized frequently for failing to ensure that its online content adheres to the law of copyright. At the time of uploading a video, YouTube users are shown a screen with the fol...

Fair use: Google Image Search

May 16, 2007

Full case here: http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2007-12-03-Perfect%2010%20v.%20Google%20Appellate%20Decision.pdf From http://www.eff.org/cases/perfect-10-v-google Adult enter...

Fair Use: Jeff Koons & Niagara

2006

via The Art Law Blog: Monday, October 30, 2006 Koons Wins The New York Law Journal reports today ($) on a big victory by Jeff Koons in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against him by p...

Innovation: Creative Commons launches

2002

In 2002, Creative Commons launches as a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and scientific content) in “the commons” — the body of ...

Innovation: Napster Shut Down

2001

Napster shuts down after U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Napster liable for copyright infringement in A&M Records v. Napster. NY Times article: http://partners.nytimes.com/librar...

Innovation: Napster

1999

1999 – Shawn Fanning launches the file-sharing service, Napster, which allowed users to easily distribute music files for free. Napster brought peer-to-peer file-sharing the masses, raising charges...

Copyright extended to life plus 70 years

1998

Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 - On October 7, 1998, the House and Senate passed S. 505, the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). The law extended protection from life of the aut...

Fair Use: 2 Live Crew & Pretty Woman

1994

Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, 510 U.S. 569 (1994)[1] was a United States Supreme Court copyright law case that stands for the proposition that a commercial parody can be fair use. That money is mad...

Innovation: World Wide Web goes public

1991

1991 – World Wide Web becomes publicly accessible. The Web has not only enabled the further spread of ideas, but it has impacted the ways in which research is conducted.

Innovation: Movie soundtracks feature copyrighted music

1989

Fo the Right Thing soundtrack Review by James Christopher Monger The soundtrack for director Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing is a veritable window into the hip-hop/contemporary R&B scene circa 1989...