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.
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