Recent Articles

The Singaporean Cablevision Case

William Patry
March 24, 2010 16:07

Many countries around the world are wrestling with similar, evolving copyright issues in response to new digital technologies. In facing common issues, courts sometimes share insights, but when they do, it's critical that they recognize the full procedural context of a decision from another...

My new blog

William Patry
August 07, 2009 02:38

I launched a new blog today, called Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars. Here's the link. The blog is based on a book I just published of the same title, available here and here.

Rocky Mountain Ratings

William Patry
July 18, 2009 18:58

A recent decision by a district court in Colorado, Health Grades, Inc., v.  Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Inc. (HT to Eric Goldman and Mike Masnick at Techdirt) raises once again courts’ confusion over foundational holdings by the Supreme Court in its 1991 Feist compilation opinion,...

My "new" fair use book

William Patry
June 08, 2009 14:59

West Publishing just put out a "new" treatise of mine on fair use in copyright. Here is a link to buy it ($200, free shipping!). "New" is in quotes because the book goes back to 1985, when BNA published the first edition. The book got off to a good start: the week after it was published the Supreme...

Barbara Ringer

William Patry
April 09, 2009 18:35

Former Register of Copyrights Barbara Ringer died this morning at 83. A very private person, there will be no ceremony. It is impossible to overstate Barbara's contributions to U.S. copyright law, including her highly distinguished service as Register of Copyrights from 1973-1980 and as Acting...

In Memoriam Sir Hugh Laddie

William Patry
December 01, 2008 04:37

Baruch dyan ha-emet. “Blessed is the Judge of Truth,” is an expression uttered when one hears news of a terrible loss, especially death. It is the expression I used when I heard of the death of Sir Hugh Laddie, zikhrono livrakha.Sir Hugh was buried today in London. He was born in 1946. His mother...

End of the Blog

William Patry
August 13, 2008 00:56

I have decided to end the blog, after doing around 800 postings over about 4 years. I regret closing the blog and I owe readers an explanation. There are two reasons.1. The Inability or Refusal to Accept the Blog for What it is: A Personal BlogI have been a full-time copyright lawyer for 26 years. ...

Phoenixes and Quondam Clients in the First Circuit

William Patry
August 08, 2008 20:48

The redoubtable Judge Selya of the First Circuit has provided us with more of his literary smorgasbord in his latest copyright opinion. This opinion begins:These appeals rise, like the mythical Phoenix, out of the ashes of a failed business relationship between an architectural firm and its quondam...

Guns and Copyright

William Patry
August 08, 2008 20:48

Within the 157 pages of opinions in yesterday’s Supreme Court District of Columbia v. Heller opinion, upholding, as expected Judge Silberman’s opinion for the DC Circuit invalidating the DC total ban in handguns, is the issue of how we interpret constitutional clauses. Because I regard the majority...

I'm Barking for Judge Barkett

William Patry
August 08, 2008 19:53

Yesterday, the 11th Circuit handed down its eagerly awaited en banc opinion in Greenberg v. National Geographic Society. By a 7-5 vote, the court of appeals did the right thing: affirm the earlier opinion in "Greenberg II," 488 F.3d 1331 (11th Cir. 2007), which had vacated "Greenberg I," 244 F.3d...