Skip to main content

Judge Posner on ‘copyright over-reaching’

By August 26, 2004law practice

Judge Posner’s blog post about copyright over-reaching is worth reading. He speaks of

“a systematic overclaiming of copyright, resulting in a misunderstanding of copyright’s breadth. Look at the copyright page in virtually any book, or the copyright notice at the beginning of a DVD or VHS film recording. The notice will almost always state that no part of the work can be reproduced without the publisher’s (or movie studio’s) permission. This is a flat denial of fair use. The reader or viewer who thumbs his nose at the copyright notice risks receiving a threatening letter from the copyright owner.”

Can we think of any recent examples of copyright overclaiming? Oh, let’s see, here’s a good one.


P.S. If you're a practicing lawyer, check out this Law Practice Assessment . After answering a few questions, you'll get detailed recommendations for improving five key areas of your practice.
Skip to content