Copyright law impedes access to archive of 1930s Jazz Recordings
This story is another example of the failure of current copyright law in the United States to produce one of its primary objectives: “the creation and dissemination of information.” See Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 US 186, 244 (2003) (J. Breyer dissenting); See also Harper and Row v. Nation Enterprises, 471 US 539, 558 (1985). While the Supreme Court, in Eldred, has larger washed its hands of enforcing this constitutional objective, we should hold Congress and the President to their constitutional duty. Here’s hoping another Orphan Works bill (like the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008) is timely introduced, passes both houses and is signed into law.
Advertisement
