Semi-OT: Congress about to limit artists' copyright rights

[David Nicol]

On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 5:35 PM, Jeffrey Watts
<jeffrey.w.watts at gmail.com> wrote:
> The issue is that this is _not_ the custom, and never has been.  If I
> write a book or paint a painting, it's mine, and if someone
> plagiarizes or copies my painting I can sue them for damages.

According to the discussion on this issue in a  Bloch school
classroom, you must register a work to sue for damages.  Without
registration, you could just sue to get them to stop using your work.
That is why people such as, say, Arlo Guthrie, register their works
with the LOC.

There is an international convention on copyright that mandates that
no registration is required.


> This is
> how it's always been.  They're proposing instead to change it so that
> I must go out and pay someone to "register" my work - the supposition
> being that unless I go out to "register" it, it's public domain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works