$#!% I Say

Since we were discussing copyright, I felt this recent development was interesting. One of the attorneys is suing the two biggest legal databases based on the fact that they recieved copyright registration for their documents which were filed in the courts. Another attorney never registered his documents as copyrighted material. Funny thing is that all court records and documents are of public record. The two companies, LexisNexis and Westlaw, disseminate the material that is filed with the courts by attaining the documents from the courts, not the attorneys themselves. The companies do not change the content of the documents in any way. They simply allow for attorneys and other legal professionals, users of their databases, to peruse legal documents without having to waste their time going down to the courts, requesting the case files, waiting to get the case files, viewing the case file within the confines of the court clerk’s or record’s area, paying the copying cost (if they want a copy), and then returning the case file. This is an example of over-litigation, and further exemplifies that copyright laws should not have the strength that they currently do. The “what if?” scenario that the attorney presented about the companies providing the documents for sale on Barnes and Nobles is a stretch. Just money-grubbing skills at their finest (or not-so-finest in this case).

What’s your opinion? Do you think the attorneys here are correct? Or is it fair-use to repackage something already publicly available?

To Thine Own Self Be True     – Shakespeare, Halet: Act I, Scene 3

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