21 Sep 2004
Trolling for Copyrights

This is a new one on me: but just because I'd never heard of this obscure 1994 law, known as the Uruguay Round Agreement Act, doesn't make it any less obnoxious. It basically allows a copyright that has slipped into the public domain to be "restored" - and anyone using the material that was in the public domain sued! Outrageous!

When Danish woodcutter Thomas Dan carved out the fuzzy-haired troll doll in 1959 because he was too poor to buy his daughter a birthday gift, he probably never imagined his creation would wind up in a legal debate in the United States.

(link) [Law.com]

via Overlawyered

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