A concise overview of the law of copyright from its origins in the English common law through recent Supreme Court cases, designed to provide judges with a grounding in the essential concepts and statutory and case law in this specialized area. The author covers the duration and renewal of copyright, ownership of copyright, and copyright formalities, as well as jurisdictional and procedural issues and the preemption of state law by federal copyright statutes. He explains the changes brought about by the Copyright Act of 1976 and its 1989 and 1990 amendments, and he covers developments in case law through June 1991.

This publication is copyrighted by the author.

Superseded by Copyright Law, Second Edition (2006).