Statutory Milestones in U.S. Copyright Law

               

 Below is an annotated list of key statutory developments that have influenced copyright law in areas of special interest to higher education. 

 

•         U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 (1788)

     The patent and copyright clause of the Constitution empowers Congress “[t]o promote the progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”  U.S. copyright legislation is derived from the patent and copyright clause.  For more detail, see the text and annotation from CRS Annotated Constitution prepared by Congressional Research Service (CRS), Library of Congress posted on the Cornell Legal Information Institute website.

•         Copyright Act of 1790, 1 Stat. 124 (1790)

     The Copyright Act of 1790 was the first federal law governing copyright in the United States.  This law provided a basic term of 14 year plus the right to request a term extension of 14 more years.  It required the deposit of a copy of the work with the Secretary of State and the publication of notice of the copyright in a newspaper.  The Copyright Act underwent several revisions including the Copyright Act of 1831, 1870, and 1909.    

•         U.S Copyright Act of 1976, Pub. L. 94-553, 90 Stat. 2541 (1976)

     The Copyright Act of 1976 was one of the most sweeping revisions of copyright law.  It established the basic framework for copyright law, including fair use provisions and some of the basic exemptions, which still govern copyright practice in the United States.  The Copyright Act of 1976 as amended is codified at 17 U.S.C. §101 et seq..

•         Congressional Operations Appropriations Act, 1997, Pub. L. 104-197, § 316, 110 Stat. 2394 (1996)

     Commonly known as the Chafee Amendment, Section 316 of the Congressional Appropriations Act, 1997, codified as  (17 U.S.C. §121) of the Copyright Act, creates an exemption from copyright for an “authorized entity to reproduce or to distribute copies or phonorecords of a previously published, nondramatic literary work if such copies or phonorecords are reproduced or distributed in specialized formats exclusively for use by blind or other persons with disabilities.”

 

•         Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, Pub. L. 105-298, 12 Stat. 2827 (1998)

     The Sony Bono Copyright Term Extension Act added 20 years to the previous copyright term of a lifetime plus 50 years, resulting in the current term of a lifetime plus 70 years. The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act authorized libraries and other educational institutions to create archival copies of copyrighted works during the last 20 years of the copyright term, provided the work is not commercially available.

•         Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, Pub. L. no. 105-3-304, 12 Stat. 2860 (1998)

     The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) introduced provisions to the copyright statute that prohibit the alteration of copyright management information associated with a digital work.  It also created a protection from liability to Internet Service Providers who warn users against violating copyright laws and establish a method for receiving complaints alleging copyright infringements on their networks.    

•         Technology Education and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act), Pub. L. 107-273, § 13301, 116 Stat. 1758 (2002)

     Adopted as section 13301 of the 21^st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act of 2002 and codified at 17 U.S.C. § 110, the TEACH Act specifies conditions under which educational institutions can use works protected by copyright in digital educational environments.  It establishes a fair use regime for distance education that tries to adapt rules that apply in a live classroom to a digital classroom. 

•         Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, Pub. L. 110-315, §§ 488,493, 122 Stat. 3078 (2008)

     Sections 488 and 493 of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 required higher education institutions receiving federal student loan funding to take actions to combat peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing activities that violate copyright law on college and university networks.  Among, other things, higher education institutions are expected to regularly caution students against P2P activities that violate copyright law and to publish disciplinary action for P2P copyright violations using the institution’s network. 

     The current environment of rapid technological development coupled with strong interests favoring the free flow of information, on the one hand, and the protection of intellectual property, on the other, will require that Congress continue to monitor the effectiveness of federal copyright law and continue to make conforming changes.