Interesting story in today’s Daily Journal:
California Courts Come Under Fire for Giving Legal Briefs to For-Profit Firms
Lawyers Challenge to State Supreme Court Practice Says Lexis, Westlaw Are Infringing on Copyright
By Amy Yarbrough and Laura Ernde
Daily Journal Staff Writers
. . .
. . . Several months ago, . . . Irvine attorney[Ed Connor] learned the California Supreme Court had given his 143-page brief to the legal information service LexisNexis, which was making it available online for a fee. . . .
. . .
“It’s something that we just worked really hard on, and I didn’t give permission to Lexis to put it up there,” Connor said.
. . .
Last week, Connor wrote a letter to Chief Justice Ronald M. George and William Vickrey, who heads the Administrative Office of the Courts, suggesting the practice is opening the court up to legal challenges based on copyright law.Connor said his first reaction was to file a class action lawsuit for copyright infringement against LexisNexis and Westlaw, . . .
. . .
Santa Clara University Law School professor Eric Goldman said there are legitimate legal questions about whether briefs can be copyrighted, who owns that copyright and whether the documents are free to be distributed under the Fair Use Doctrine.
. . .
Erika Wayne
Paul Lomio
Kate Wilko
George Wilson
Sergio Stone
Brian Provenzale
July 23, 2009 at 11:00 pm
[...] lawyer says yes. The argument for infringement is actually moderately strong. Like most other documents, briefs are [...]
July 23, 2009 at 11:30 pm
[...] LexisNexis and Westlaw violating copyright? [...]
July 24, 2009 at 8:04 pm
[...] Legal Research Plus brought this to my attention, originally from the Daily Journal: [...]
July 28, 2009 at 11:09 am
[...] Lexis and Westlaw Infringe Copyright When They Post Briefs Filed in Court? LexisNexis and Westlaw violating copyright? 15 USC 101: Work Made For [...]
August 3, 2009 at 8:22 am
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August 6, 2009 at 12:44 pm
[...] legal publishing services LexisNexis and Westlaw, which both publish legal filings and rulings, were violating his copyright on a brief he had filed, in redistributing it (for profit). As you know, unique content is automatically covered by [...]
August 6, 2009 at 12:49 pm
[...] legal publishing services LexisNexis and Westlaw, which both publish legal filings and rulings, were violating his copyright on a brief he had filed, in redistributing it (for profit). As you know, unique content is automatically covered by [...]
October 30, 2009 at 6:27 pm
[...] contacted the court in July after finding his brief on Lexis (and not for free). More on this here. Read the letter that he sent to Justice Ronald M. George and Mr. William C. Vickrey. Posted in [...]